The Colors of Autumn
by Hatesolstice
Summary: What began as childhood friendship slowly blossomed into more, but if only they had told each other how they felt. But life has a way of bringing things around full circle, and what had once drifted apart over the years could suddenly become whole once more. Life changes, much like the leaves in the fall, and every spring things begin anew. mAU
1. Chapter 1 - Playdate

**A/N: Welcome to my new little side-project. This was something that came to me randomly and suddenly. It's also something I have never done before. Romance and drama are not genres I've ever dipped into before, but I figured the only way to progress as a writer is to move out of my comfort zone and try. So here it is.**

 **I want to preface this with something important. This is going to start off with a cute surface. Eventually, when the characters are older, it won't be so cute. Life has a funny way of making things miserable, and there will be plenty of that later. For now, this is rated T. I will adjust that as the story progresses if necessary. Unlike my other stories, I will include author's notes on chapters that it seems pertinent to. Trigger warnings will be included in later chapters, which is why the rating is likely to change.**

 **This story is going to be driven by the demand of you fine people. If there is a desire for it to continue, then I will continue with it. If not, then it may die prematurely. I haven't decided yet. You also may notice that I am going against everything I believe in and giving Elsa a love interest for the first time. Yes, she is straight(sorry Elsanna lovers). I'm not going to spoil the plot at all, and I can't guarantee a happy ending. It really depends on how well-received this story is.**

 **Anyway, enough gibberish. This experiment is about to start, so enjoy this innocent first chapter. Please leave a review when you finish so I know where this is going to go. Thanks!**

 **Chapter 1**

 _Playdate_

September 6th, 2004. The start of a new school year, and all the fresh new faces in Mrs. Allen's kindergarten class were wide-eyed and brimming with excitement. They were filled with a dazzling energy, a fuel coursing through their adolescent veins that pumped into their roaring engines at dizzying speeds. It was difficult to keep them focused for more than a couple minutes. They were awestruck, and most had found toys of various types to occupy their tiny minds. All but one.

In a quiet corner of the classroom, sitting by herself, was a small girl with big sapphire-blue eyes and snowy blonde hair. While the other kids were running about making noise, playing in groups, and making friends, the little blonde girl kept to herself. She had found an old, beat up princess doll buried deep inside one of the toy boxes, and just sat and stared at her. The doll was dirtied from years of use, one of the eyes was missing, and the string making up her thin smile was coming undone. It was in sad shape, but the girl didn't care. To her, the doll was imperfect but beautiful.

After watching the little girl play by herself, Mrs. Allen grew somewhat concerned. The child wasn't remotely as energetic as the others, and seemed to be slightly depressed. She firmly believed that no child at that age should be that way. It typically meant there was more going on in the child's life than what was readily apparent.

She decided to approach the little blonde girl and talk to her, just to try and learn something about her. Putting on a bright smile, she knelt down beside her. "Elsa, sweetie, why aren't you playing with the others?"

Elsa didn't bother to look up from the doll sitting in her lap. Instead, she shrugged. "I don't want to."

"I'm sure they would love to have you join them," Mrs. Allen said sweetly.

"I tried. They made fun of me."

"Who did?" the teacher asked.

"I don't know their names. It was some girls."

"Well, why don't we find you someone else to play with?" Mrs. Allen urged.

"I don't want to. I want to be alone."

"Okay. Come play with the others when you feel better."

She didn't like how Elsa responded, but she wasn't going to force her to interact with the others. There was always one kid that didn't enjoy bonding with the other children for whatever reason. A lot of the time it was because they were shy. Other times it was due to any lack of socialization at home. But sometimes there were far deeper issues involved. Things that Mrs. Allen preferred not to think about if possible.

Soon the bell rang for recess, and the kids flooded the classroom door and poured out like ants in an anthill. Elsa waited silently and patiently until the others had left before making her way to the playground. As she slowly wandered around, trying to look everywhere all at once for the quietest corner she could find, she noticed a lone oak tree in the corner of the large grassy field that the kids usually used to play kickball. It's branches sprawled out in every direction, casting a great shadow across much of the field.

This was where she decided to spend her time. Sitting down, leaning back, and watching the other kids play, Elsa was content with where she was. She preferred to be alone. Always has. Other kids usually picked on her when she played at the park by her house, and the two boys that lived next door to her taunted and teased her at every opportunity. It was enough to drive her away from any real interaction with others.

This went on for weeks. Everyday, Elsa would go to class, sit quietly at her desk when they were doing basic lessons, was always neat and tidy during arts and crafts, and sat away from the other kids when it was story time. When the others would try and get her to play, she would sit there and withdraw into herself, confusing the other kids and forcing them to abandon her. She was happier that way.

It was nearly a month into the school year, and Elsa was once again sitting in her favorite spot beneath the large oak. The leaves had started to turn to orange and brown, the colors of autumn. She had brought a picture book from class to sit down and try learning some of the words inside when an unfamiliar voice brought her out of her secret little world. When she looked up to see who it was, there was a caramel brown haired boy with emerald-green eyes looking at her with a smile on his face.

"What'cha reading?" the boy asked.

At first, Elsa didn't respond. She looked back down at her book and shrugged dismissively. "A book with cats in it."

"Cool. Can I look at it with you?" the boy asked eagerly.

Looking back up at the boy, Elsa furrowed her tiny brow and considered him. "Why?"

It was the boy's turn to shrug, but he still had a goofy smile on his face. "Because you're pretty and you need a friend."

Even at six years old, Elsa had no idea how to respond to that. It didn't make sense. None of the other kids had ever been nice to her before, or said anything even remotely close to that. But, before she could think of something to say, the boy was already sitting down beside her and looking over her shoulder.

"I'm Micah," the boy suddenly said. "What's your name?"

"I'm Elsa," she found herself saying before she could think.

"I like that name."

There they sat, beneath the ancient oak, naming the various pictures in the book that laid in Elsa's lap. It felt strange to her, having someone just push their way into becoming her friend. It didn't make sense to her. How someone could choose to be her friend was mind-boggling. This sort of thing never happened, especially so abruptly. The boy had just helped himself, and there was nothing Elsa could do to stop it. What she didn't understand was why she didn't want to.

00000

The days soon turned into weeks, which then turned into months. It was nearing Christmas, and school would be out for the holiday. Elsa and Micah had become fast friends, which the little blonde still didn't understand. She did, however, stop questioning it after about a week of them spending recess together everyday. The craziest part was when he had finally coaxed her into playing a game of tag with him. They ran for the full half hour they had to play, and she had never had so much fun.

That itself was a new sensation. Elsa was actually having fun. This concept had been foreign to her for so long that she never dreamed she could actually play with someone else her age and enjoy it. Her new favorite pastime activity was climbing the monkey bars while Micah chased after her. The boy was relentless, but she was faster and more agile. The times he did finally catch up to her, the bell usually rang shortly after.

Unfortunately, the time they got to spend together was short lived. Once that bell rang to end recess, they had to slowly trudge their way back to their separate classrooms. This always depressed Elsa, as she knew she'd have to wait until the next day to see her friend. The weekends were torture for her. On those days she was stuck with her three year old sister, Anna. Though she was very protective and fond of her sister, Anna was still too little to do much. So her weekends, while often busy, were brutally long. With the holidays fast approaching, Elsa was beginning to think that Christmas and her birthday would be boring. Without her friend to play with, she didn't think she could enjoy the break much at all.

It was the second to last day before holiday break, and the weather had already begun to turn dreadfully cold. The sky was overcast with a light gray blanket of clouds, and there were snow warnings in effect on every news broadcast. Elsa's parents watched that sort of thing every morning before her mother took her to school. She never paid much attention to it because of how dull it was, but she heard the word snow and got excited. Then she remembered Micah, and how she wouldn't see him over the holiday.

"Momma, can my friend Micah come over?" Elsa asked as she slipped on her heavy coat.

"Is that that boy you've been playing with?" her mother wondered.

"Yeah. Please?"

"Maybe tomorrow, sweetie. I have to meet his mother first."

Her mother's answer saddened her just a little. "Okay," she said as she looked down at her feet.

The ride to school was as uneventful as ever. Just like always, they were stuck behind a slow-moving school bus that stopped at nearly every block. It always felt like it took an eternity to get there, and they had to stop so often that it made Elsa impatient. Sometimes in the mornings she would get a chance to see Micah before the classrooms opened up, and they would stand and talk. For some reason, his mother was never there in the mornings. But she always picked him up in the afternoons when it was time to go home. Elsa never got a chance after class was let out to see him, but this particular morning she was more determined than ever to catch him before they left.

Class was actually becoming more fun, especially with all the neat projects Mrs. Allen had the kids working on. From construction paper snowmen to advent calendars, there was always something for them to do. Today, however, the teacher had the kids making Christmas cards for their parents. Elsa's was an ice blue, and the inside had a set of stick figures representing her family. Her handwriting was some of the neatest in the class, something that Mrs. Allen complimented her on everyday. She had even cut out a paper Christmas tree, complete with a shining star on top, and pasted it right on the inside of her card. Elsa was rather pleased with herself, and showed it to her teacher when she was finished. Mrs. Allen had that warm smile on her face that told her she had done a fantastic job, which in turn made Elsa smile as brightly as she could.

It wasn't long until the recess bell rang out across the schoolyard, and the kids rushed out to play. As always, Elsa took her time and waited for the other kids to leave first before heading out. Then she made a beeline for the oak tree and sat, waiting for Micah to finally arrive. When he did, he was walking with something behind his back and a toothy grin plastered onto his face.

"Hi Elsa! I have something for you!" he exclaimed joyously.

Elsa's face split with a grin of her own, and she stood up excitedly. "What is it?"

"A card I made," he said as he presented her a messy, multicolored piece of paper he had crafted together.

Taking it from his hands, Elsa looked it over and couldn't wipe the grin from her face. Her eyes were wide as she tried to read the words on the front. After several moments of pronouncing each letter, she finally guessed it.

 _To Elsa,_ it read.

Inside was a picture of two little stick figures holding hands with the names _Elsa_ and _Micah_ written above them. There were a couple pink paper hearts pasted next to them, though they were out of proportion and looked more like arrowheads. Both stick figures had big smiles that were a little too large, and for some reason there was a cat drawn next to them.

The whole thing made Elsa incredibly happy, and she threw her arms around Micah and hugged him as tight as her tiny arms would allow. Then, after she let him go, she started to tear up a little and she had no idea why.

"Do you want to come to my house tomorrow?" she asked him as she wiped her eyes dry.

"Sure! I have to ask my mom first," he said, his smile somehow even bigger than before.

For the rest of recess they sat and talked about what they were doing in class until the earsplitting ring of the bell summoned them back to class. Slowly they made their way back, going their separate ways when they reached the building their classes were in. Elsa wasn't upset or down about having to return to class like she normally would be. She had the card Micah had given her, and she showed it off to Mrs. Allen as soon as they were back in the room. Her teacher was very happy that Elsa had finally found a friend, and she was rather surprised by the card. It was cute, and she congratulated Elsa on making a friend finally.

At the end of class, Elsa raced out of the room to her mother and started pulling on her hand and dragging her to where Micah would inevitably be. They had to zigzag through the crowd of people, and she had to look everywhere to make sure she didn't miss him. When she did finally spot him, he was walking off towards the parking lot with his mother. It looked like they were talking.

Elsa urged her mother on as fast as she could, and once she was in earshot of him, she shouted. "Micah! Wait!"

Luckily he heard her, and turned around in time to be nearly tackled to the ground by the little blonde. "Elsa! Hi!" he laughed as he tried his best to keep his feet on the ground.

The two women were watching, rather amused, and laughed as the kids stood back up. "Micah, hon, is this the girl you keep talking about?"

The boy nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! She's Elsa!"

"Well it's good to finally meet you Elsa, sweetie," the woman said. Then she turned to Elsa's mother and smiled. "I'm Jenny by the way. Micah absolutely adores your daughter."

"I'm Melissa, and Elsa is the same way," her mother replied. "She doesn't shut up about him. I mean that in a good way, of course."

"Momma, can Micah come over now?" Elsa asked earnestly.

"Sweatheart, we have to do some shopping once we leave. How about tomorrow, if that's okay with you?" The last part was directed to Jenny.

"I see nothing wrong with that," Jenny replied, looking down at her son. "How does that sound? Want to see Elsa after school tomorrow?"

The boy's face lit up like a Christmas tree, and clapped his hands together excitedly. "Really!? Yes!"

"Well I guess that settles it," Melissa said as she laughed at the boy. "We can pick him up tomorrow after school lets out and take him to our place. Maybe go for ice cream or something. But we should definitely exchange numbers."

As the adults were chatting, Elsa and Micah hugged one last time as they giggled together. Their mothers thought it was absolutely adorable to watch, but they eventually had to say their goodbyes and parted ways. Elsa was pumped, though, at the very idea of Micah coming to her house. She had never had a friend visit before, and she wanted to show him all the things she had. Although, he was a boy and boys didn't like girl stuff. But she didn't care. She was going to show him anyway. They'd probably end up watching a movie or something. She didn't know or care. All she knew was her best friend was coming to her home and spending the day with her.

00000

The next day couldn't come soon enough. Usually Elsa was quiet and calm in the morning, but this morning was entirely different. She was practically bouncing off the walls as she ran around gathering her things for school and making sure her toys were where they were supposed to be so she could show Micah when they got back. Everything had to be perfect. Why, she didn't know. She had never thought about those sort of things before. But today was different. Today she wanted to impress him so badly that it hurt, and she didn't understand why.

On the way to school, Elsa kept thinking about all the things they would do together. They could draw and color, they could run around in the backyard until they were too cold to be outside anymore, they could watch a movie and eat popcorn... The list went on. Every prospect made her bubble with excitement. She had no idea what they were actually going to do, but she knew it was going to be the best day ever. That much she could count on.

At school, the day dragged on as if time had the consistency of slime. They mostly just had a free day where they got to do whatever they wanted. When recess came, Elsa bolted out the door before the other kids could even respond to the bell, and she ran all the way to the oak tree that she shared with her best friend. It took no time at all for him to show up, running nearly as fast as she did.

"Hi Elsa!" he said cheerfully as he dragged her into a bear hug.

After he set her back down, Elsa giggled hysterically and found her spot on the ground to sit. "Are you ready to come over?"

"Yeah! Oh, I have something for you," he replied as he dug around in the pocket of his jeans. "Here you go."

It was a piece of chocolate that was in some gold wrapping. Elsa's blue eyes widened with delight as she tore into the thing and crammed the chocolate into her mouth. Then, out of nowhere, she leaned over and gave Micah a quick peck on the cheek. As soon as she realized what she had done, her face turned beet red and she fell quiet. Micah's face was a similar shade of red. Neither knew why they were embarrassed. It wasn't something they felt very often.

After a few awkward moments of silence, Elsa looked back up at her friend with a shy smile. "What do you want to do at my house?"

Micah simply shrugged at her. "I don't know. What about you?"

"I don't know. Watch Harry Potter?" Elsa asked.

"Harry Potter is cool!" Micah replied excitedly.

They talked for a bit about their favorite superheroes, and then the bell rang. Back in class, Elsa noticed that there was a big TV set up at the front of the room, and a bunch of the kids were seated on the floor where Mrs. Allen usually did story time. Her teacher was standing beside it, trying to get her class' attention.

Holding up her hand to silence everyone, Mrs. Allen hushed the kids into listening to her. "Okay everybody, we're going to invite Mrs. Callum's class over to watch a movie together. Who here likes Finding Nemo?"

Nearly every hand in the room shot up, and several of the kids got overexcited and jumped up. Elsa was excited as well, but not for the same reason as the others. Mrs. Callum was Micah's teacher, which meant he was going to be watching the movie with her. This made her extremely giddy and she couldn't wait for them to arrive.

Soon enough the other class arrived, and Micah made a beeline for Elsa. They chose to sit at one of the tables rather than on the carpeted floor. They were the only ones to do so, and Elsa couldn't care less. She was happy, excited to take Micah to her house and play, and school was almost over. It was going to end up being the perfect day... Hopefully. There were no signs that it could end poorly, and she was bound and determined to keep it that way. Nothing was allowed to go wrong.

Eventually class let out and the two rushed out to meet with Elsa's mother. They made their way to a white, four-door SUV, tossed their bags in the back, and hopped in. It smelled like a brand new car, and it was, and it had a picture of Elsa and Anna hanging from the rear view mirror. Moments later, the car roared to life and they were on the road.

"Do you kids want some ice cream before we head home?" Melissa asked over her shoulder.

In unison, both kids chimed their approval and made her laugh and shake her head. Off they went to the store to grab whatever it was the kids wanted, then headed home. Traffic wasn't too bad for the Friday before Christmas, which was a Godsend in Melissa's eyes. Normally it was hell trying to get home, but she figured a lot of people were already out of town so things went smoother than expected.

When the car pulled up to the house, Micah stared up at it in awe. The split-level home was painted an eggshell white, had large sectional windows, and an arched awning above the porch. The front yard wasn't very big, but it had lots of flowers and was very pretty. It even had a chimney, which mean they had a fireplace. He found that to be exceptionally cool.

It wasn't long before the kids were inside and running up the stairs to Elsa's room. Throwing open the door, Elsa spread her arms out in a grandiose fashion to display all the things that lined her walls and shelves. She had a plethora of stuffed animals smothering the top of her bed, a toy box overflowing with things that she had already outgrown but kept anyway, a small bookcase with things from when she was slightly younger. Her parents hadn't quite yet upgraded her to the more advanced books.

"This is my room. I know boys don't like girl things, but I wanted to show you anyway," Elsa said shyly.

"Whoa," Micah exclaimed. "You have lots of stuff. I wish I had this much stuff to play with."

"You don't have toys?" she asked, curiously.

"I do, but not a lot."

"Oh. What do you wanna do first?"

Micah spent a moment looking around the room, trying to decide where to begin. "I don't know. How about a movie?"

"Okay. Let's go ask my momma."

Off they ran, racing across the house to the downstairs family room where the large screen TV was nestled into the corner. Melissa had an office across the hall and was busy with something on the computer when the little girl knocked.

"Momma, can we watch a movie?" she asked quietly. She always had to be quiet in the office.

"Of course sweetie. Do you want Harry Potter again?" her mother asked.

Gleefully Elsa nodded, grabbed Micah's hand, and dragged him into the family room and plopped herself down on the large couch. They sat next to each other rather closely, and it was something Melissa noticed but said nothing about. She smiled to herself as she set up the movie for the kids. She couldn't help but think of how adorable their little relationship was. It was definitely a good thing that Elsa had a friend, and it was even better that they got along so well. Elsa needed this.

"Do you guys want some popcorn?" she asked as she headed out of the room.

"Yes please!" Elsa chimed as the movie started, magically drawing them in.

The hours passed by quickly, and it was nearly time for Micah to head home. After the movie ended, they resorted to playing with some of Elsa's dolls in her bedroom. She was rather surprised when he told her he would play with her. So, they set off to create a pretend city of oversized dolls and the rare action figure that Elsa had begged her parents for. They were having great time, marrying off dolls with one another regardless of the intended genders, and didn't notice that the clock had struck 6 o'clock.

The familiar sound of the doorbell brought their play to a halt. Moments later they could hear Micah's mother talking with Melissa, and they trudged their way down the stairs so he could leave. They both looked rather defeated, but not entirely so. They still had fun, which was the most important part. That and they both knew that it would happen again soon.

"You ready to go, bud?" Jenny asked as Micah pulled on his coat and backpack.

"Yeah," he said rather lamely.

"Don't worry, you guys will get plenty of chances to play again. Maybe next week before Christmas, unless you guys are busy?" she asked Melissa.

"We have family flying in, but we might be able to squeeze in some time for these two. It's Elsa's birthday just before Christmas," Elsa's mother replied with a smile.

"That sounds good. Okay, kiddo, say bye to Elsa."

"Bye Elsa," he said as he gave her a hug.

Elsa watched as they walked back to their car and drove off, happy that she got to spend the day with her friend. She was a little sad that he had to leave, but her mother did say they might get another chance soon. That was what she held onto, and that occupied her mind all through dinner. When it was time for bed, she was still anxiously waiting for her next playdate with Micah. She was thinking up all the things that they would do together as her eyelids became heavier by the second and she drifted off to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2 - A Holly Jolly Christmas

**A/N: Okay, I am really breaking my own rules right now by adding another set of author notes. But sadly, it's necessary.**

 **I know that I just started this story on Wednesday(September 28th, 2016), but I had enough free time to write the next chapter. In fact, I'm going have plenty of free time over the next two weeks, so I might end up releasing several more chapters. We'll have to wait and see.**

 **Thus brings me to my main point. I do not have a set release schedule for this story. I don't know what would work best, as my other story Incursion updates on Saturdays. This one is going to probably be more sporadic and just update whenever I feel like it. Since I just updated Incursion today, I am fairly apprehensive in releasing this chapter. But I'm going to just do it since I'm fairly excited to get the story going.**

 **I want to thank those of you that found the first chapter worth reading, and to warn you that the story is not going to remain so fluffy and cute. There will be moments of fluffiness, but those of you familiar with my writing will know that it won't stay that way. Just take caution reading forward from here on out.**

 **Anyway, enjoy the chapter and let me know what you think in the reviews. Thanks.**

 **Chapter 2**

 _A Holly Jolly Christmas_

December 24th, 2004. It was Christmas Eve, and Elsa was barely excited. Her birthday had already come and gone, and it was disappointment. Some of her family had flown in the day prior – her grandparents and aunt on her mother's side - and normally she would have enjoyed seeing everyone. Unfortunately, the one person she wanted to see more than anyone was unable to make it to her party. Micah's family had apparently become too busy for him to make an appearance. She did at least get to speak to him on the phone for a minute, which cheered her up some.

Now it was supposed to be every child's favorite time of the year, and she wasn't really interested. In fact, she was acting somewhat depressed and withdrawn compared to what she used to be like. At least, that's what her Aunt Candace believed. The woman had noticed a significant change in her niece and it concerned her. She tried sitting down with Elsa and just talking to her, but the little girl would just brush her off and not really speak. After several minutes of trying to coax Elsa into talking, Candace pulled Melissa aside and decided to voice her concerns.

"Mel, have you noticed anything different with Elsa?" she asked quietly. They had moved into the kitchen, away from prying ears.

Her sister let out sigh and leaned onto the island countertop at the center of the kitchen. "Of course I have. You don't think I haven't seen that something is wrong with my little girl?"

"Do you have any idea what could be causing her to be so anti-social and depressed? She's seven for Christ's sake. That is way too young to be miserable."

Melissa didn't answer right away, instead resting her head in her hands. "I don't think she's depressed."

"How can you say that?" Candace said a little harshly. "It's Christmas and the girl isn't even remotely interested. She should be running around excited and hopped up on chocolate fudge. Instead she's moping around on the couch just staring at one of her dolls."

"What do you want me to do, Candace? It's not like she's going to just tell me what's wrong. She may not even know."

"Have you considered that she might need to see a therapist? I know you can afford one, and they have ones that specialize in dealing with children her age."

For whatever reason, the suggestion seemed to irritate Melissa. "She does not need a therapist. She isn't nearly as bad off as you're making it seem."

"Jesus Christ, Melissa," Candace exclaimed. "I just spent nearly ten minutes talking to the girl, and she barely spoke to me. Last year I couldn't get her to shut up. This is not normal."

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Melissa started to tear up. Her eyes misted over, and she tried to wipe them dry but failed. "I know. I'm at a loss here. The only time I have seen her happy in awhile is when she is with her friend. But he can't always be around. Maybe you're right. Maybe she does need a therapist. I'll talk to Dale about it and see if we can get her in to see one after the holidays."

"Hon, I know this sucks, but it hurts me to see my niece like this. You really should do this. Help her work through whatever it is that's eating at her."

The rest of the evening played out without incident. Almost everyone was in the holiday spirit, watching the usual Christmas specials on TV and catching up on things since they last saw one another. Elsa was huddled in her favorite blanket near one of the windows watching the snow fall outside. The ground was covered by a fresh white blanket, and the house was kind of chilly even with the fire blazing in the hearth. The sun had set a couple hours ago, but it was still relatively light out due to the pale moonlight that managed to break through the clouds above. Down on the street Elsa could see the occasional car sluggishly drive by, leaving a mushy trail of tire tracks behind.

When the table was set and dinner was ready, everyone swarmed the large oval oak table and chose a seat. Anna was finally old enough to eat at the table, though she had to be supervised closely by their mother. She had finally begun talking in real words rather than baby speech, so occasionally everyone could understand what she was saying. Melissa still had to cut everything up so the little redhead could actually chew and eat it without fear of choking.

Elsa, on the other hand, chose a place between her aunt and grandmother at the other end of the table from her parents. Her mother and father noticed but said nothing. It was unlike her, but her aunt had always been one of her favorite people. The two had a very special bond that Melissa only hoped to have with her daughter. Ever since Elsa was born Candace had been very close with her. It made her mother slightly jealous.

Dinner was lively as everyone chatted away and laughed, enjoying each others company. The food was picture perfect, something Melissa strove for with pride. She was one of those mothers that had to be the perfect hostess. If things somehow became derailed, she had to do her best to get them back on the right track. Chaos was not an option, as she had an image she had to uphold.

The scent of spiced apple cider filled the home, and everyone retired to the family room downstairs where the Christmas tree was. Underneath sat a pile of presents in colorful wrapping paper and ribbons. Anna bolted for the mountain of gifts, but before she could get far her father grabbed her up and sat down with her on his lap. The room was toasty warm as that was where the fireplace was. The heat didn't help the food coma that was slowly washing over everyone. After more talk and TV specials, Melissa stood up and walked towards the tree.

"Alright, well, I think it's time we each open a present. How does that sound, Elsa?" she asked her daughter.

Elsa had taken a seat by the sliding glass door that lead to the backyard. She was once again watching the snow fall and pile up on top of their slide and swing set. Without even looking at her mother, she just shrugged with disinterest.

Nobody else seemed to be paying any sort of attention to her, and Melissa frowned. Without putting any more thought into it, she began grabbing presents from under the tree and passing them around. "Okay, this one is for mom, and this one is dad's. Candace, you can open this one. Elsa, sweetheart, come get your present!"

As if ignoring her, Elsa didn't move. She just kept her eye on the descending puffy flakes coming out of the night sky. 

"Elsa Lynn, do not ignore your mother!" her father spoke loudly and forcefully.

"Dale, it's fine. She doesn't want to open a present, and I'm not going to force her," Melissa interjected.

Standing up, Dale sat Anna down on the couch and walked over to Elsa. "No dear, it is not fine. She will not ignore us when being spoken to!" Without hesitation, he grabbed Elsa by the arm, forced her to stand, then swatted her on the bottom before pushing her towards the stairs. "Now go to your room!"

Elsa yelped in pain and started to cry, and everyone fell silent. Then Candace got angry and started to yell. "What the hell, Dale!? That was uncalled for! You didn't need to humiliate her in front of everyone just because she didn't want to open a god damn present!"

"Candace, mind your own damn business! She is my child and I will punish her if I feel it's necessary!" he replied angrily.

"Knock it off, both of you! I will not have you ruin things because of this! Dale, that was completely unnecessary. Now you get up there and apologize to your daughter!" Melissa was practically shouting.

The man didn't say a word before storming off towards the stairs. Instead of heading to Elsa's room, he instead went to the fridge and grabbed a beer from the bottom shelf. Popping the cap off and taking a quick chug, he pulled out his Motorola RAZR and began scrolling through the pictures he had saved. It was nearly fifteen minutes before Melissa came up the stairs to check on them. Quickly Dale stashed away his phone and turned around to see a very pissed off wife.

"I thought I told you to go apologize to her. She's still in there crying," Melissa said. She was rather displeased.

"I am not apologizing. She disrespected you and deserved what she got," he retorted.

"You are a son of a bitch sometimes, Dale Erickson. Elsa is seven years old, and there is something wrong with her. You could try showing a little sympathy instead of being an ass."

"The only thing wrong with her is being insubordinate. I will not tolerate that in this house!"

"I am taking her to see a therapist after the first of the year," she declared. "Something is bothering our little girl, and I want her to get the help she needs. You certainly aren't helping matters any."

"And how do you plan on paying for this therapy? Hmm? Besides, you can't trust them. They just want your money and never solve anything."

Melissa let out a frustrated groan and clenched her fists. "I will pay for it myself with money from my business. You don't have to do a damn thing, like usual."

Dale glared at her but didn't say anything more. Instead he grabbed another beer from the refrigerator before heading back downstairs. Ignoring him, Melissa headed towards Elsa's room and poked her head in. Lying on her bed crying, Elsa had her back to the door.

"Elsa, sweetie, can I come in?" her mother asked.

Elsa sniffled and shrugged, not even turning to look at her.

Sitting down on the edge of the bed, Melissa ran a hand along Elsa's arm and back to try and sooth her. It did seem to help calm her down some. "Are you okay?"

"No," the little girl said between hiccups.

"You know I'm not mad at you, right? And papa isn't either. He's just stressed," Melissa lied.

"I don't like papa."

"Elsa, you don't mean that."

"Yes I do. He always hurts me," Elsa whined as she wiped her nose on her sleeve.

"Your father just does what he thinks is best," her mother reasoned. "He doesn't do it to hurt you."

Elsa started to cry again, and buried her face in her hands. Her mother slowly picked her up and wrapped Elsa in her arms as she began to rock her. "Sweetheart, we love you. You know that, right?"

Once again, the little blonde didn't respond.

Letting out a sigh, Melissa continued to rock her daughter quietly until she finally fell asleep. Then, she laid her down slowly on her bed and covered her up with her favorite blanket before closing the door and heading back downstairs.

00000

It was the start of the new year and school had started up again. The air was frigid and the ground still covered in frost and snow, but not enough to call off school. The kids were all excited to show off all the neat stuff they had gotten, and the energy around campus was quite lively. Everyone was exclaiming how great their holiday was and how much fun they had. Except for Elsa.

She had never been more miserable in her life. The way her father treated her on a regular basis, the fact that her mother did nothing to stop it, and she was lonely as hell was all a recipe for depression and disappointment. The only saving grace was that she was about to see her friend again after two long, excruciating weeks. This was the only thing that perked up her spirits.

That morning her mother walked her to class like normal. Elsa didn't really care about any of the other kids, and was a little disappointed when she saw that Micah wasn't there yet. He wasn't always there in the mornings anyway, so it didn't bother her all that much. She knew she would see him at recess, and that's all she really cared about.

Standing outside the classroom waiting for the door to open and Mrs. Allen to let them in, Elsa held her mother's hand tighter than normal. If her mother noticed, she didn't say anything. She was shivering, but not from the cold. She was feeling anxious, because Micah was normally at school by the time the doors opened so she could at least catch a glimpse of him walking in. It was almost time for them to be let in and there was no sign of him.

When the doors finally did open, it wasn't Mrs. Allen who was standing there. It was a man with glasses that Elsa didn't recognize at all. One by one the kids filtered into the classroom and took their seats, and the strange man walked up to the front of the class and waited with his hands behind his back. He towered over the kids, and didn't give off much of a friendly feeling.

After everyone was seated, the man coughed into his hand and spoke. "Yes, welcome back to school everyone. I hope you had a good holiday. I am Mr. Fredrick, and I am your substitute teacher today. Mrs. Allen is out sick, so we're just going to have a fun day, alright?"

None of the other kids seemed to care, but the man made Elsa very uncomfortable. Something seemed off about him, but she didn't know what. But it didn't seem to bother any of the others, so she tried to ignore it the best she could. So, she retreated to her favorite corner and dug around the toy box for the princess doll she always played with and sat by herself. Luckily, Mr. Fredrick didn't bother her, so she was able to keep to herself fairly easily. Most of the others knew better than to bug her.

By the time recess came, Elsa was bored out of her mind. There was no structure to the day like when Mrs. Allen was there; no arts and crafts, no story time, no going over the alphabet and learning to read words... It was chaotic and dull. Nothing stimulating was going on. So all she had was her corner of the classroom, and when the bell rang she slowly made her way outside.

Underneath the oak tree was relatively clear of snow, so she got to sit in her favorite spot and wait for Micah to appear. But half way through recess, he never showed up. Elsa was confused. He showed up every day, so the fact that he wasn't there today was very odd. It depressed her even more that she didn't get to see him, and the rest of the day was a big letdown after that. When her mother picked her up that afternoon, Elsa was down in the dumps and worried her mother.

"Elsa, hon, what's wrong? Didn't you have fun at school today?" her mother asked.

"No. The teacher was weird and Micah wasn't there," Elsa said sadly.

"Don't worry. Micah's family is probably just not back from wherever they went. You'll see him soon," Melissa assured her. "And Mrs. Allen. I promise."

The rest of the car ride home was spent mostly in silence, with the exception of her mother's radio station playing quietly in the background. Elsa just stared out the window, watching the city slowly pass by. Everything was still covered in snow, although some of it seemed to be melting finally. That was fine by her. It was just something else for her to look at when she was at home.

Eventually the car came to a stop, but it wasn't at their house. Elsa had no idea where they were, but her mother opened the door and called for her to climb out. They were outside a large two-story building that reminded her of the clinic where she goes for checkups. There was a set of glass double-doors leading into a lobby, and a large staircase that led to the second floor. Her mother slowly guided her by the hand up the stairs, and Elsa suddenly had a feeling of anxiety in the pit of her stomach.

"Momma, where are we?" she asked innocently.

Her mother didn't answer right away, and when she did she was very vague. "We're here to see someone that might be able to help us."

"Help us with what?"

"Don't worry about it, pumpkin. We're just going to talk to someone special, okay?"

"Okay."

They arrived at what looked like an office that smelled dusty and old. There was a lady behind a small wooden desk that greeted them warmly. "Hi, how can I help you?"

"My daughter has an appointment with Dr. Cohen at 2:30pm," her mother replied.

"It's Elsa, correct?" the woman asked.

"Yes, correct."

"Please take a seat and she'll be called back shortly."

The chairs in the waiting room were uncomfortable, and the magazines and books were mostly for adults. Elsa did manage to find a copy of Dr. Seuss' 'One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish' that the cover was coming off of. She decided that it would be fun to sit down and look at all the ridiculous pictures in the book, and possibly even learn how to read some of the words. Her mother decided to bury her nose in some magazine that Elsa didn't bother to look at to find out what it was.

They didn't have long to wait before a tall, slender woman with dirty blond hair tied back in a ponytail called them into one of the rooms behind the front desk. "Elsa Erickson?"

Both of them stood up and followed the lady into the room, and she gestured to them to take a seat on one of the soft leather couches in the room. The material was cold to sit on, and made a weird sound as she plopped down. Elsa was still rather anxious, but the room felt homely and welcoming, so she felt a little better. There were various paintings on the walls, and in the corner was a little square fountain that lit up from the bottom. The sound of the dripping water was soothing, and there was some sort of ambient music playing softly from the computer on the woman's desk.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Cohen, and you must be Elsa," the woman greeted them with a smile. "And you must be the mother."

"Yes, I'm Melissa. I'm the one that made the appointment last week."

"Pleasure to meet you. So, what brings you guys in today?" Dr. Cohen asked casually.

"Well, Elsa here has been having some issues at home lately," her mother said. "She's very withdrawn and outwardly depressed. She seems sad all the time. It's hard to get her to want to leave her room, and she absolutely hates going downstairs unless we drag her down there. We have a split-level home, so the downstairs is the family room, my office, and the garage. Everything else is upstairs. But she's always moping around and doesn't show any interest in anything, including her toys. Her kindergarten teacher has told me about her being very down and anti-social at school too. In fact, the only time I've seen her happy in the last year is when she spends time with this boy she made friends with a couple months ago."

Dr. Cohen hums to herself and crosses the room and takes a seat in front of Elsa. "I see. And this didn't start until about a year ago?"

"That is correct, yes."

"Well, why don't we ask Elsa here what is on her mind," she says as she turns her attention to the little girl. "How are you doing there Elsa? Have a good day at school?"

Elsa shook her head and looked like a deer caught in the headlights of a speeding car. "No, not really."

"And why is that?"

"Micah wasn't there today."

"Is Micah your friend?"

She doesn't respond with anything more than a nod, and Dr. Cohen leans back in her chair.

"Do you guys play together a lot?"

"Yeah, every day at recess."

Dr. Cohen has the slightest smile on her face as she's questioning Elsa, and they discuss all the stuff they like to do during recess when they get to see each other. She tells the woman about the card that Micah had given her just before Christmas, and how he was the nicest person in the world. As she is opening up to the therapist, Melissa is silently tearing up while she listens. Her daughter has so much love for the boy but nothing else. She doesn't understand why this boy is the only one that can get her to act like her old self.

"Now, Elsa, I'm going to ask you a question that you don't have to answer, okay?" the therapist asks.

"Okay."

"Can you tell me why you're so sad all the time?"

Elsa hesitates for just a second before answering. "I'm not allowed to talk about it."

"Why is that?" Dr. Cohen asks with concern.

"I'm just not."

"Who told you that?"

"I'm not allowed to say."

"Okay. I won't ask any more questions. Would you like to do something fun?" Dr. Cohen asks.

"Like what?" Elsa asks curiously.

"Why don't we draw? Can you draw me a picture of your family?"

"Okay."

Dr. Cohen smiles and heads to her desk to grab some crayons and a blank sheet of white printer paper. Placing them on the table between her and Elsa, she urges the little blonde to take them and draw while she talks with her mother.

"So what is going on with my little girl?" Melissa asks quietly.

"Mrs. Erickson, it's going to take more than one session for me to determine that," the therapist informed her. "But honestly, I would keep this boy Micah in her life. He is the only thing that she speaks positively about. For whatever reason, he is able to get past this wall she has put up. Now, I can keep trying, and it will take time, but I cannot guarantee that it will be easy. I know how people view therapists and how we're scam artists, but therapy does work for millions of people. Plus the methods and science behind it have evolved drastically over the years. It is a field that is constantly changing and evolving as we learn more about the human psyche. Children are especially difficult because of how their minds work."

"I thought you specialized in working with kids."

"I do, but that doesn't mean it's easy. It's not. Working with children takes time and patience. Now, the methods I use are those that are empirically proven to work the best. I'll give you some information on what the therapy will consist of so you can know and understand what I will be trying to do. The scary thing is this could take just a few sessions or it could take years. That's how complex children are.

"What truly concerns me here is that Elsa is telling us that whatever is going on with her has to be kept secret, and that someone is telling her this. This is typically a sign of abuse, be it physical, mental, or sexual. With how long you told me she has been acting like this, it sounds like it has been happening for an extended period of time. But I'm not making any conclusions or decisions on this until I meet with her more."

Before Melissa could respond, Elsa approached them both and presented her drawing. "I'm done. I hope you like it."

Both Dr. Cohen and her mother were smiling, but then their smiles both fell. The drawing wasn't what either was expecting. The family was there, but there were strange looking shadowy things all over colored in black and red. The picture of her father had what looked like a length of rope or a belt, and her sister and mother were a little farther away from them. Elsa was in the middle with a giant red 'X' across the groin. Overall, the picture was very creepy.

"Elsa, sweetie, what is this?" Dr. Cohen asks as she points to the X.

"That's my private area," Elsa responds shyly.

"Why is the X there?"

"Because it's naughty."

"Why is it naughty?"

"I'm not allowed to talk about it."

"It's okay, sweetheart. We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

As they ready themselves to leave, Melissa turns to Dr. Cohen and thanks her. "Thank you for your help. What am I supposed to do now? What does this all mean?"

"Honestly, you do nothing right now other than be there for Elsa," the woman says. "As for what it means, there are a couple possibilities, but I am not going to overwhelm you with all that right this second. I have some thinking I need to do, and I will call you if I discover anything more or have any further questions. I would like to schedule another session, preferably next week if possible. I am very concerned for her right now."

As they climbed back into their vehicle, Elsa buckled herself into her car seat and looked at her mother. "Momma, did I do something wrong?"

"Of course not, baby. Why do you think you did?"

"You didn't like my drawing."

"I love all your drawings, Elsa. You know that."

"But you didn't like that one. Why?"

Melissa hesitated before answering, unsure of what to say. If she said the wrong thing, she could really hurt her daughter. "It was just so different from your other pictures."

"Oh."

Elsa busied herself with looking out the window of car as they sped off towards home. It was quiet once again, with her mother's radio still turned low. It was some person talking and was boring. It would be dinner time soon, and she didn't quite feel like eating. She never did anymore. All she really wanted was to see Micah. She hoped and prayed that he would be at school tomorrow. Hopefully his family was back from wherever they went for the holidays. She really needed to see him again, no matter what.


	3. Chapter 3 - Her Own Personal Bully

**Chapter 3**

 _Her Own Personal Bully_

The next morning was something of a drag, as Elsa's father was home from work. The weather was bad enough that the job site he oversaw had to close down due to safety concerns. Her father worked in construction, and was a foreman for a very large company in the area. He was almost never home in the mornings, and when he was he was always in a foul mood. On those days, Elsa had to be especially quiet so as not to upset him any. Otherwise, he would yell at her and send her to her room. For whatever reason, her mother never did anything about it, and seemed to completely ignore it. Luckily, she didn't have to put up with him much. He had been on the phone for much of the morning dealing with his boss and some of the people that work under him.

School had been canceled due to another surprise snowfall, and the road conditions were sketchy at best. This bummed her out quite a bit, as she was once again not going to be able to see Micah. Thankfully, she still had the card he had made for her. She kept it on the desk in her room, and looked at it every day since he gave it to her. It helped cheer her up some, but it wasn't really enough. Especially today.

Her father was in a particularly foul mood this morning, something about the job falling completely behind schedule. Every time she went near him she could feel his eyes on her, and so she made it a point to stay as far away from him as she could. If she could avoid him, then the day could theoretically go by without much incident. To make things easier on herself, Elsa chose to busy herself with a coloring book she had gotten for Christmas. Grabbing her crayons and book, she headed for her room and closed the door so she could have peace and quiet, as well as to keep Anna from running amok.

She had been coloring for several hours, staying as neat and inside the lines as she could manage, and before long she had colored in a picture of a princess and her horse. The princess wore all pink, whereas the horse ended up blue and purple, which meant he was magical and could fly. That was something she really enjoyed; coming up with stories for the drawings in her books was something she did all the time. By the time lunch was ready, she had managed to fill in two more pages of her book.

It was nearly noon, and her mother came knocking on her door to tell her lunch was waiting for her. Cleaning up her mess of crayons, she tidied up her desk before heading to the dining room where Anna was undoubtedly tearing apart her food and making a mess. Today they were having ham sandwiches and carrot sticks, which meant she had projectiles to throw at Elsa as she ate. It didn't bother Elsa much really, as she enjoyed playing with her sister. Just not always while they were trying to eat.

After lunch, Elsa decided to ask her mother if she could call Micah and talk to him. She had the basic idea of how a phone worked, and when Melissa said yes she waited patiently as her mother dialed the number for her. It rang a couple times before someone picked up.

 _"Hello?"_ It was Micah's mother.

"Can I talk to Micah please?" Elsa asked shyly.

 _"Oh hi Elsa, sweetie. Sure, hold on."_

Elsa was getting excited, and bounced around on the balls of her feet. This was going to be almost as good as actually seeing him.

Moments later, she could hear the phone being picked up and heavy breathing on the other end. _"Hi Elsa!"_

"Hi Micah! Why weren't you at school yesterday?"

 _"Oh, uh...something happened with my dad. I can't talk about it though."_

"Oh. Are you playing in the snow?"

 _"Not yet. Going to in a bit. I wish you could come over."_

"Me too. But my momma says there's too much snow to go anywhere."

 _"Yeah, that's what my mom said too."_

"What did you do for Christmas?"

 _"Nothing."_

"Nothing? Did you get any toys?"

 _"Not really. My mom said Santa couldn't bring much this year. Maybe next time."_

Just then Elsa heard shouting coming from downstairs, and she immediately knew her parents were fighting about something. She hated it when they did this.

"I think I have to go, Micah. Can I talk to you later?"

 _"Sure. Hopefully we can go to school tomorrow. Bye Elsa!"_

Before she could say a word, the phone went silent. She knew she was supposed to take the phone back to her mother, but she didn't want to go downstairs. Not when they were arguing and shouting. So instead, she closed it and set it on the counter in the kitchen, then headed back to her room. She checked on Anna on her way, who was fast asleep in her tiny bed. Closing the door as silently as she could, she tiptoed the rest of the way to her room and shut the door behind her.

The fighting was loud, and they were directly beneath her room. She could hear it pretty well, though she couldn't tell what was being said. She chose to ignore it though, and busied herself with her dolls and stuffed animals. When that became boring, she decided to grab her favorite blanket and sit at the window to watch the snow drift down from the sky. The only thought going through her mind was that she hoped her parents would stop soon. She didn't like it when they did this. It happened a lot, especially lately. There were a few times where her father would storm out of the house and not come home until after she was asleep. He usually came home acting differently, and smelled really bad. Those nights were the worst. When he came home that late he usually woke her up, and she knew something bad was going to happen. That's when she started cowering in the corner of her bed under the covers.

It was quiet outside when the snow fell. It was a strange silence, like the world had just stopped moving and everything had been put on hold. Elsa desperately wanted to go outside and play, but asking her parents right now wouldn't be the best thing to do. They were still at it, and she had no idea how long it would last. She wished it was as quiet inside the house as it was on the snowy street below. Whenever this happened, her mother would usually be crying afterward, and today it seemed like it'd be bad enough for her father leave. But with all the snow on the ground, she didn't know if he'd actually be able to go anywhere. That's when he'd stick to their bedroom and slam the door shut like usual, or busy himself in the garage. Then Anna would wake up cranky and scared, and Elsa would have to calm her and get her back to sleep. Her mother would most likely be down in her office with the door closed, which meant she wasn't supposed to be disturbed. This also meant that it was up to Elsa to take care of Anna while her parents were angry at each other.

Sure enough, after several more minutes of the yelling, Elsa heard the door to her mother's office slam shut. Shortly after that, she heard the garage door open up and her father swearing and throwing things. He did that a lot too. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to do during this time. Sometimes she'd go see if her mother was alright, only to be sent away. There were a couple times she tried talking to her father, but that only ended in her getting yelled at and sent to her room.

The rest of the day passed in relative silence, which was all Elsa wanted. Once Anna woke from her nap, Elsa made sure to spend time with her so they didn't disturb their parents. They would mostly just play in Anna's room with the wooden blocks she got for her birthday last year. Their favorite thing to do, besides build them up high and knock them down, was make a little fort at the foot of the little redhead's bed. Of course, before they ever got half-way done, the toddler would come crashing through and make a colossal mess of the thing.

Eventually it was time for dinner, which was mac 'n cheese with some bread and butter. Their father didn't bother joining them, and their mother just had a glass of wine with no food. She did at least sit with the girls, which made Elsa feel a little better. It was nice seeing that her mother was no longer crying, although her eyes were puffy and red. They ended up talking about the pictures Elsa had colored in, and the fort that they made in Anna's room. Their mother listened but only halfheartedly. It was clear she was still upset.

When Elsa was finished with her food, she took her dishes to the kitchen and put them in the dishwasher like she had been shown. Then she returned to the dining room and threw her arms around her mother's waist. "I'm sorry momma."

Her mother returned her hug, but looked a little puzzled at her. "For what, sweet pea?"

"For you and papa fighting."

"Oh, baby, you had nothing to do with it. Papa and I just didn't agree on something. I promise," Melissa assured her.

"Okay. Can I take a bath now?"

"Of course. Then it's time for bed."

"Will you read to us?"

"Of course I will."

00000

A few days passed before the weather cleared up enough for school to resume. It was still incredibly chilly outside, and the cold was making Elsa's little nose run. She didn't mind though, since she was finally going to get to see Micah after nearly three weeks. It was enough to raise her spirits considerably, and her mother took notice and smiled. If only she could get her daughter to be like that when she wasn't with her friend. The boy was something of a godsend.

Mrs. Allen was already waiting outside for the kids when they got to school, and let them in the moment they arrived so they didn't have to wait out in the cold. As she was entering the toasty classroom, Elsa still didn't see any signs of Micah. But that wasn't unusual in the mornings anyway. What really mattered was if he was there at recess or not. She didn't know how much longer she could wait to see him.

The early part of the day was fairly boring. They got to do some coloring, and they went over the alphabet again just to help them remember the different letters. After their morning lessons it was lunch time, and then soon after it was recess. The kids all rushed out the door as usual, and Elsa had to wrap herself up before heading towards her oak tree. The snowstorm of the last few days had buried the base of the tree in a layer of powder. She didn't mind though; she just stood and waited.

She was almost about to give up when Micah finally came running towards her, grabbing her up in his trademark bear hug. "Elsa! I'm finally back!" he greeted her as he set her back down.

Elsa giggled with delight. "Where have you been?"

"Oh. Sorry, we had some problems with my dad," he said sadly.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just can't talk it about it."

"Do you want to build a snowman?"

His eyes lit up and a smile crept along his lips. Before long they were rolling balls of snow around to make the most misshapen snowman they could. They managed to make the lower portion pretty quickly, and struggled a little to get the upper torso rolled into place. Then Micah began work on the head as Elsa scrounged around for twigs to turn into arms for their creation.

As they were finishing up making the head, a couple of other boys approached them and laughed. One was rather tall for his age, and the other was shorter and chubby.

"That thing is ugly," mocked the taller boy.

"Shut up, Marshall," Micah demanded.

"Why are you playing with such a weirdo?" Marshall asked.

Stepping in front of Elsa, Micah puffed out his chest and clenched his hands into fists. "Elsa is not weird. Go away."

Suddenly, without warning, Marshall ran up and kicked their snowman, causing it to crumble to pieces. Then he and his friend laughed and ran off before Micah could do anything. Shortly after, the bell to return to class rang out across the schoolyard.

"I'm sorry, Elsa. They're jerks," Micah said apologetically as they began to head back to class.

"It's okay," she assured him.

"Next time I'll stop them."

The rest of the day was uneventful, and when it was time to head home Elsa actually managed to see Micah before he left with his mother. Before her mother could stop her, Elsa ran and tackled Micah in a hug from behind while laughing.

"Momma, can Micah come over again?" Elsa asked as they stood back up.

"I don't know sweetie. Papa came home early today, and I don't think he wants company..."

"Please!?" Elsa begged.

"What do you think, Jenny? Is it okay if he comes over and has dinner with us?" Melissa asked. "If not we can do it sometime this weekend."

"Why don't we do that," Micah's mother replied. "I can bring him over before work on Saturday and pick him up on my way home."

"Is that okay with you, sweet pea?" Melissa asked her daughter.

Elsa simply nodded and smiled, and gave Micah another hug before they parted ways. They waved goodbye, and she was still smiling when she climbed into the car so they could leave. As they drove off, Elsa remembered what had happened at recess and decided to tell her mother.

"Momma, me and Micah made a snowman! But then some mean boys came and knocked it down."

"Well, that wasn't very nice of them," Melissa replied as she looked at her daughter through the rear view mirror. "Why did they do that?"

"They said I'm a weirdo."

"Elsa, hon, you are not a weirdo. You're just shy and quiet."

The rest of the car ride home went in relative peace and quiet. The afternoon was tense because of her father being home, so Elsa chose to spend that time with Anna in her room. Like usual, they built a fort out of wooden blocks just so the feisty little redhead could come and knock it all down. Since Anna was learning how to speak adult words, it was getting easier for them to play games together. They did this until it was dinner time, when their mother came and grabbed them.

That night, after they had bathed and were readied for bed, Elsa crawled under the covers and buried herself in the mountain of stuffed animals that littered the head of her bed. She had one stuffed animal in particular that was her favorite, and she had owned it since she was a baby. It was a little red dragon that squeaked when you squeezed it. The poor thing had been washed in the sink, had food spilled on it, and dragged through the dirt in the backyard. Even after all of that, it remained intact and relatively huggable. Whenever she felt afraid, Elsa would clutch onto the thing for dear life and hide under the blanket. It normally didn't take long before sleep took over.

The next few weeks went on about the same. Elsa and Micah would play together at recess, and those boys would occasionally come by and pick on her. Micah began to get more and more protective of Elsa, doing his best to defend her from their mocking and name-calling. There were a few times where he had to physically chase them away before they made Elsa cry, which they had done a number of times already. By the end of January, it had become nearly a daily occurrence. They only ever picked on her, never Micah.

It was soon Valentine's day, and some of the kids were passing out their little cards with candies to one another. Elsa ended up with a couple, but only because a few of the kids passed them out to the whole class. Otherwise, she was mostly overlooked and ignored. But she didn't care. She busied herself with making a card for Micah, which she was taking great care in making sure it was perfect. She didn't have any candy to give to him, but she knew he wouldn't care. The card would be more than enough.

When the recess bell rang, Elsa happily skipped her way out to their spot beneath the aging oak tree and waited. The grass was mostly muddy after all the snow had finally melted away, although the air still had an icy bite to it. Her cheeks were flush almost as soon as she went outside, and her nose and ears were freezing. She didn't have long to wait though, as Micah was making his towards her. Unfortunately, so were the kids that kept bullying her.

Marshall and his friend got to her first, and immediately started taunting her. "It's the weirdo waiting all by herself. What's that you've got?"

Protecting Micah's Valentine's card behind her back, Elsa backed up against the trunk of the tree. "It's none of your business, Marshall. Go away!"

"Give it to me!" he demanded, then stepped forward and pushed Elsa down. Picking up the card, he started to try and read it before just ripping the thing up and tossing it to the ground. "You're such a loser. Weirdo."

Elsa started crying, and the boys laughed at her as they ran off. Seconds later, Micah arrived and ran to Elsa, pulling her into a hug.

"I'm sorry I'm late," he told her quietly. He sounded angry.

"Why do they hate me?" she asked between hiccups.

"I don't know. But I don't."

Eventually Elsa was able to calm down, and she started gathering up the pieces of the card she had made. "I made you a card, but Marshall ripped it up. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I brought you a present."

She hadn't noticed it at first, but Micah was carrying a little heart-shaped box full of chocolates. It still had the ribbon on it, and a tiny little card taped to the top of it. Grabbing the card, Elsa tried to read what it said, and was able to figure it out after a minute of sounding out the letters.

 _Smile._

"My mom helped me with it. Do you like it?" he asked patiently.

Micah wasn't prepared for the tackling hug that Elsa had become known for, and they fell to the ground while laughing. But, he had managed to do the one thing she needed. He managed to cheer her up. They sat under the tree for the duration of recess eating chocolate and talking. When it was time to go in, Elsa decided to make the bravest move she had ever taken. She grabbed Micah by the hand and walked with him back to class.

00000

The end of the school year was less than a week away, and the kids were getting anxious for summer vacation. They were busy making all sorts of neat little arts and crafts projects for their parents, most depicting the fun things they'd done during the school year. They learned a couple new songs to sing and annoy their parents with. But mostly, they had started watching movies more often with Mrs. Callum's class. Elsa had come to love movie days.

On the last day of school, the day was cut short with no time for recess. It sort of bummed Elsa out, but not a lot. Her mother had already arranged a playdate with Micah after school, so he was riding home with them. This perked her right up, and the moment they stepped foot into the house the kids were running up the stairs to Elsa's room, ignoring the cries of her mother to stop running in the house.

"What do you want to do?" Elsa asked as she threw the door open with reckless abandon.

"I don't care. How about you?"

"Want to play house?"

"Sure. But we don't have a house."

"So, we'll just pretend."

As if that solved the matter, Elsa started running around the room gathering toys she had stashed away on her bookshelf and in drawers of her dresser. Micah busied himself with gathering a couple of the dolls off the bed to represent their children, of which they had three. Soon enough, they had all the makings of a little house. They had turned Elsa's room into their own miniature home.

They played for several hours, with Micah pretending to go to work while Elsa stayed home with the 'kids'. Melissa only interrupted them once for snacks, and then immediately after they were right back at it. This went on until dinner time, when Elsa's father came home. Once he came upstairs to dinner, Elsa could feel the pit of her stomach twist into knots. He didn't look particularly happy either.

Dinner consisted of chicken strips and french fries. Simple and tasty. Luckily Elsa's father just grabbed a beer from the fridge and went downstairs without saying a word. She had been afraid he'd say something about her having company over. Micah didn't seem to notice the tension any, and happily ate his food without a care in the world. For the first time in nearly a year, she didn't have to worry about her father yelling at her for something inane. That was normally what he did; he'd find some reason, some minute excuse, as to why she had done something wrong and had to be sent to her room. Her mother rarely ever intervened on her behalf, which Elsa didn't understand. Most of the time, she never knew why she was in trouble.

It was nearly 7pm by the time Jenny showed up to pick up Micah. She said traffic had been bad, and she didn't get off work on time like normal. Melissa didn't mind though, as it kept Elsa occupied and out of her father's hair. The way she said it, though, made Jenny frown ever so slightly. Once she had gathered up Micah and his things, he turned and gave Elsa a hug before leaving.

That night, Elsa could hear her parents arguing again. They normally didn't do that so late, but every once in a while they would yell at each other and then sleep in separate rooms. Melissa would often sleep downstairs, leaving Dale to sleep upstairs alone with the girls. Elsa hated it. Her father usually wasn't quiet or pleasant, and there were a few times where he woke her up in the middle of the night. On those nights, she would hide under the covers as best she could and pretend that she wasn't there.

Summer vacation was fun because she got to spend a lot more time outdoors and with Micah. Her parents had bought an above-ground swimming pool shortly before school let out, and the two would get to go play around in the water almost every time they got together. Elsa had only gone over to Micah's house a couple times, and his father had never been there. It seemed odd, and when she asked about it Micah usually fell quiet and didn't say anything. She learned pretty quickly that it was a touchy subject for him.

The short vacation seemed to speed by, and it was nearly time to start getting ready for the next school year. Melissa had taken Elsa shopping to get new clothes and her school supplies, and offered to help Micah with his things too. She and Jenny had begun hanging out together as well, considering their kids were practically inseparable. At first Jenny was very much against the idea of Melissa buying anything for them. But after awhile she let go of her pride and allowed her son to be spoiled a little.

Then the day for class registration came. As the kids were meeting the teachers that they would be assigned to for the year, she discovered that she and Micah had the same teacher, Mrs. Carter. The two began dancing around like fools and were excited for the school year to start. But then the worst thing happened. None other than Marshall himself walked into the room with his mother and gave them both a wicked grin the moment he saw them.

"Oh no. Marshall is in our class!" Elsa panicked.

"Just ignore him. I'll stop him from bothering you," Micah sad defensively.

"Why does he keep picking on me?"

"I don't know. But just ignore him, okay?"

Elsa nodded but said nothing more. Her stomach had dropped and she felt sick. The one person she didn't want to see again was going to be in her class. It seemed first grade wasn't going to be as fun as she had hoped it would be. It was possibly going to be a horrible school year. Of that she was sure.


	4. Chapter 4 - Liar Liar

**A/N: Well, here's another interruption, but it's fairly important.**

 **As I said in the beginning, there wasn't going to be a regular upload/update schedule. I am basically going to just upload whenever. I don't want to upload too often though, because I don't want you guys to get overwhelmed so quickly with chapters. So here's the deal.**

 **After today, I'm going to start trying to upload on Fridays, maybe Thursdays. It really depends on when I get the next chapter ready to go. At the latest it will be before the end of the weekend. Now, I don't want this to interfere with my other story, Incursion, so I will do my best to not update both stories on the same day. Incursion's dedicated day is Saturday, and I try my best to keep to it. Although, starting next week, I'm not going to have as much time to write either story. I will still do my best though. I currently have 3 chapters pre-written for this one, and 1 more left for Incursion. So it's going to be a manic game of juggling the two stories. But don't worry. I have a game plan for both of them, as I know the plots for both and where they're headed. This story is going to get a little more interesting(in case it isn't right now, I don't know) in the next 3-4 chapters.**

 **With that said, I want to assure everyone that this story isn't going to be short. The bulk of it is going to take place in high school, then college. I'm not going to rush through the school years nearly as much as I am right now. All these chapters are merely highlights of certain events that lead up to high school. Oh, and I will also begin switching perspectives and focus between Elsa and Micah once they reach high school. So it should be fun.**

 **Okay, enough of me blabbing. On to the story.**

 **Chapter 4**

 _Liar Liar_

November 27th, 2008. The school year was moving along nicely – for the most part – and the kids had been learning quite a bit. Since first grade, Elsa had managed to be a straight A student and was often the teacher's favorite in class. She was always quiet and polite, paid attention, did her homework, and helped whenever she could. The teachers couldn't be happier to have her in class. Unfortunately, she was quickly labeled as the teacher's pet, and the other kids made fun of her for it.

Especially Marshall. The boy was ruthless, and hadn't given up on making her life miserable. He was in her class this year, which in turn made third grade a nightmare. Every day the boy would call her names, pull on her braid, throw things at her, and just make her life a living hell in general. But he always managed to do it when the teacher wasn't looking. None of the other kids said anything or seemed to care. It wasn't any of their business. Elsa was too afraid to go to the teacher because that would just aggravate the situation even further. He already tormented her on a daily basis. He didn't need more of a reason to keep doing so. Luckily, it was now Thanksgiving, and Elsa didn't have to put up with him for four whole days. The holiday was a nice reprieve from the bastard.

Everyone in her family was in good spirits, including her father, and the food her mother was cooking smelled amazing; it always did. Aunt Candace was there for dinner, and was trying to spend time with her nieces. Anna was now in kindergarten, and so the girls got to do a lot more together and actually enjoy it. Playing games together was so much easier now. It was even better that they could do all of this with Micah as well.

Micah and his mother had been invited to dinner too, and were due to show up at any time. They had done this the last couple years since they didn't have any family that lived in the area. So, instead of letting them be alone on Thanksgiving, Melissa started inviting them over for the feast. Jenny would show up with some dessert she made; the previous year she made a chocolate pie with Hershey Kisses and a whipped frosting on top. It was an instant hit. Even Dale managed to compliment her on it.

That was another thing. Elsa's father had started acting differently over the last two years. She didn't know why, but he wasn't as angry all the time, and was often in a fairly decent mood. The man still bothered her immensely, and she still refused to go downstairs whenever he was home. Instead, she would often spend time in her room reading now that her books consisted of age appropriate stories. She didn't quite have a favorite just yet, but she was sure she'd find one eventually that really jumped out at her. There were plenty of books on her bookshelf, and her mother had taken to buying her a new book every couple of weeks, or even several if Elsa begged enough. Melissa wanted to encourage her as much as possible.

At roughly 1:30 pm the doorbell rang, and Elsa ran to the door as she called out to everyone excitedly that she was answering it. As soon as she slid to a stop and opened it she was pulled into a crushing hug by Jenny and Micah, and the two followed her up the stairs to the kitchen.

"How is school going, sweetie?" Jenny asked Elsa as they entered the kitchen.

"It's okay. Marshall is still a jerk to me."

"That boy has been tormenting you for years now. Why haven't you gone to the principal?"

"Because I don't want to make things worse," Elsa said.

"Don't worry mom, I manage to keep him away during recess. He doesn't bother us anymore there," Micah added.

"Micah, I do not want you fighting at school," his mother commanded.

"I'm not fighting. I just chase him away. He's a coward."

It was then that Melissa turned from the vegetables she was dicing and greeted their guests. She had been cutting onions, so it looked like she was crying. The thing was that she and Dale had been arguing again that morning, so Elsa wasn't sure if it was entirely from the potent vegetable.

"It's so good to see you guys," Melissa said warmly. "Candace and Dale are downstairs, and Anna is in her room coloring I think. That's what she was doing half an hour ago. I've been too busy to check."

"Don't worry mom, me and Micah can go check on her," Elsa offered, then headed down the hall without waiting for a reply.

Once the kids were gone and busy, Melissa returned to cutting the onion but turned her head slightly so she could speak. "Any word on when Travis comes home?"

Jenny plopped down onto one of the stools at the bar and sighed. "Yeah. December 15th. I have to pick him up at the prison since he won't have a ride."

"What are you going to do when he gets home?"

"I haven't decided yet. I am so angry with him that I don't want him around Micah, but I don't really know what to do. I've been working my ass off, Melissa. Holding down two jobs is draining me. With him walking back into our lives after the last four years...it's too much."

Melissa turned fully around so she could see her friend and leaned back against the counter. "Have you considered divorce? It wouldn't be difficult for you to get full custody, especially with his track record."

"Yeah, I've been talking to this attorney that said he can help, but I can't afford it. With Travis just getting out, he has no money so I can't make him pay for it. I just don't know what to do," Jenny said with a defeated look on her face.

"I can help you-"

"No. This isn't your problem, Melissa. You've done way too much for us already. I can't ask you to do this too."

"You're not asking. I'm offering. That man is a loser, and all he'll do is keep dragging you down with him. You do not want to keep putting yourself or Micah through this."

"...Fine. Let me at least think about it."

They could hear the laughter coming from down the hall, so they knew the kids were alright and having fun. It was important to them, because they didn't want the children to have to deal with the reality of things. It wasn't a burden they should never have to bear. If Jenny and Melissa had it their way, the kids would remain innocent forever. Unfortunately, life didn't work out that way.

The kids were in Anna's room playing with the Hot Wheels and superheroes that she had. She never wanted dolls, not like her sister. Anna was more into the types of toys boys liked. Action figures, comic books, toy cars... The list went on. Whenever Micah came over, the three of them would spend a good portion of their time in her room having the plethora of superhero toys battle the various villains that she inevitably asked for. The bad guys were often her favorites. They represented the rebellious nature that Anna had become known for. They went against the norm, and that's what she loved about them.

After a couple hours of fighting the biggest war Anna's figurines had ever seen, the children were called to the dinner table. They didn't bother with cleaning up the toys, as they'd be back after eating to finish the epic battle between good and evil that was taking place in Elsa's old dollhouse. As usual, Elsa sat between Micah and Aunt Candace, and they actually held a conversation throughout the meal. Once again, the meal was picture perfect, with Melissa playing the perfect hostess.

Dinner went surprisingly well. Last year Dale and Candace got into a heated debate over Elsa's continued therapy, something that he was still adamantly against. He thought it was far too expensive and had done nothing for Elsa. Candace, on the other hand, argued that there was a change in her niece, and that it was proving to be effective. When Melissa and Jenny sided with her, Dale got pissed off and stormed out of the dining room. This year, everything went smoothly. No arguments, no backhanded compliments, no snark. It was actually a good dinner.

After dinner had been cleaned up after, and Dale had returned to the downstairs family room, the kids returned to Anna's room to finish their game. None of them were particularly in the mood though, as they were too stuffed to really play. So, instead, Elsa and Micah helped clean up the toys before going to her room to sit and talk. They talked quietly so as not to bother anyone.

"I don't want to go back to school on Monday," Elsa said drearily.

"Is it because of Marshall?" Micah asked.

"Yeah. He hates me so much, and I don't know why."

"Like I've said hundreds of times, he's a jerk. Just ignore him."

"You don't understand, Micah. I do. He still picks on me."

"Well, you should tell someone then."

"What if they don't believe me?" Elsa said, slightly stressed.

"Elsa, they will. Just tell Mr. Steinbeck."

"The principal won't believe me."

"I'll go with you."

Elsa flopped herself backwards onto her bed with a grunt, and stared up at the ceiling. "Why does my dad hate me?"

Taking a seat next to her on the edge of the bed, Micah slowly shrugged. "I don't know. I wish I did. But you won't tell me everything."

"I can't, Micah. Besides, it's my fault anyway."

"What is your fault?"

"I just said I can't tell you."

"I'm your best friend, Elsa. You can tell me anything."

"You're my only friend."

Just then, Jenny called for Micah to get ready to leave, interrupting their conversation. With a groan he scooted off the bed and gave Elsa a hug before trudging his way down the hall towards the stairs. Elsa watched from the banister at the top of the staircase as he and his mother said their goodbyes and left. Suddenly, she felt alone and depressed again. It happened every time. The only difference now was she was learning how to hide it from everyone. Except for Micah. He was the only one that ever knew how she was feeling or what she was thinking.

00000

The rest of the school year went on pretty much the same, and Elsa's tenth birthday came and went. Marshall still picked on Elsa as much as humanly possible, and she spent her weekends hanging out with Micah. At school, it was coming to be the end of the spring season and the weather was warming up. It wasn't raining as much, which meant hanging out at their favorite spot beneath the old oak tree was feasible again. For the past couple of months, they spent most of recess indoors at the cafeteria. There they had their own table and were able to talk about nothing in particular like usual.

Today was particularly nice out, and the grass was relatively dry. The two raced out to their spot beneath the tree, sat down, and talked. Unlike normal, it was a fairly serious conversation, and it was a subject that weighed heavily on Micah's chest.

"My parents are getting a divorce," he told Elsa gloomily.

"I'm sorry, Micah. Do you know why?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's because my dad went to prison. I don't know why exactly, but I just know he did something bad. That's all my mom will tell me."

"So what now?"

"He moved out last week to something called a half-way house. He lives with other people that I don't know. My mom said I'm not going to get to see him very much."

"That's sad. I wish it didn't have to be that way for you."

"Yeah, me too. What about you though? How are things with your dad?"

Elsa didn't answer right away, and instead drew her knees up tight against her chest and looked away towards the playground. "Can you keep a secret?" she asked apprehensively.

"Of course I can. You know that."

"Okay, well... God, I don't know how to say this. He hurts me. All the time. But he does it when no one is around. I don't know why. But it's my fault. I misbehave and deserve it. He tells me so."

Micah scrunched his eyebrows together and thought for a second before replying. When he did, he was very careful in what he said. "Elsa, I had no idea. But I can promise you one thing. You do not misbehave. I know you, and you are perfectly well-behaved. You never get in trouble at school, and I have never seen you get grounded."

"I don't know what to do, Micah," she said as she began to get teary eyed. "My mom does nothing to stop it. Plus, I have to make sure he doesn't do it to Anna too. So it has to be me for now."

"Elsa, you need to tell someone."

"Tell who, Micah? No one would believe me."

"I don't know. Someone has to know. What about your counselor?"

"Dr. Cohen? I don't know..."

"Please, Elsa. Do this for me. Tell her."

Soon the recess bell rang, calling the kids back to their classes. It felt like the longest walk they had ever taken, and they intended to drag it out as much as possible. Once they were back to the building, Micah walked her to her class before heading off to his own. He did that nearly every day now to help prevent Marshall from picking on her. For the time being, it seemed to work. Micah had become a little bigger than Marshall, so the bully stayed away from Elsa when her friend was around. So, he chose to stick to picking on her in class when he could.

That afternoon Elsa's mother picked her up like normal, and started asking her about her day. Elsa went over the lessons they had done in class, and mentioned Marshall picking on her yet again; she made sure to avoid the conversation she had with Micah at recess. For whatever reason, Melissa didn't say much about the bullying. She never did. She simply would sit there and dismissively nod at everything her daughter told her.

They eventually pulled into the familiar parking lot of Dr. Cohen's office building. Making their way through the lobby and up the stairs, Elsa soon found herself sitting in the same uncomfortable chairs in the waiting room. They were a few minutes early, and she decided to busy herself with a magazine about dogs. She didn't really read it so much as look at the different pictures of puppies and coo over them. Most were adorable, although there were a couple she didn't care for at all. She really liked huskies, and they were one of the state's college mascots.

After nearly twenty minutes of waiting, Dr. Cohen came out and called Elsa back into her office. Her mother normally waited out in the lobby anymore. The sessions had become a lot more private, and even though Elsa didn't think it was helping much, they did make her feel slightly better afterwards. It mostly helped her learn how to cope with the bullying.

Taking a seat on her favorite couch, Elsa sank into the soft leather cushion. Dr. Cohen took the seat across from her as always, and had her clipboard that she wrote notes on. She smiled brightly at Elsa, the kind of smile that told her she was safe there.

"Elsa, it is so good to see you sweetheart. How are you doing lately?" Dr. Cohen asked.

"I'm okay," was all Elsa replied with.

"Is Marshall still picking on you at school?"

"Yeah. I don't know why he won't leave me alone," she said as she crossed her arms.

"Sometimes bullies have problems going on in their own lives that cause them to lash out at people. That could be what is happening with Marshall. Have you talked to anyone about it?"

"No. No one would believe me."

"You don't know that. Bullying is a very serious issue. You need to talk to the principal, or have your mother do it."

"My mom doesn't care. If she did she would have said something."

"That's not true, Elsa. Your mother keeps bringing you to therapy, so clearly she does care."

Elsa didn't respond, and they sat in silence for several seconds as Dr. Cohen wrote something down in her notebook. The scribbling of her pen was the only sound that could be heard in the deafening silence.

"So how about things between you and Micah?" Dr. Cohen finally asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Are you two still getting along? Are you still close? That sort of thing."

"Oh. Yeah, we're still getting along fine. He's my best friend."

"I know he is. Have you thought about making more friends since I last saw you?"

Shaking her head, Elsa toyed with the hem of her shirt and looked down at her feet. "None of the other kids like me. Most of them make fun of me. Micah is the only one that doesn't."

"I see. How about at home? How are things going there?"

"Fine."

"Elsa, last time I saw you things were not 'fine'. Please, don't lie to me."

Elsa still wasn't looking at her, and she looked more defeated than ever. "My dad still hates me, and my mom doesn't care."

"Why do you think that?"

"Because it's true. My dad always yells at me and sends me to my room, even when I don't do anything wrong. He hurts me."

"How does he hurt you?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Elsa, I can't help you if you don't tell me."

She was starting to get visibly upset, and her eyes began tearing up. Her whole demeanor became even more depressed than she already was. "I can't tell you."

Once again, Dr. Cohen was silent as she scribbled down more notes into her little book. She didn't say anything for nearly two minutes, and when she did it was with a very serious tone of voice. "Elsa, keeping these things secret will only make them worse. I cannot help you if you won't tell me what is going on."

"If I tell you, he'll hurt me. I deserve it."

"No, Elsa, you don't."

Elsa didn't say anything more, and Dr. Cohen decided to end their session a little early. When she walked Elsa out to the lobby, she pulled her mother aside to speak with her. "Mrs. Erickson, something is bothering Elsa a great deal, and I think we're finally getting closer to an answer. But I can't do anything about it just yet."

"What does that mean? What is going on with my daughter?" Melissa demanded.

"She said that her father is hurting her, but she won't say anything more on the subject. Plus she seems to believe that whatever is happening is her fault, and that he'll hurt her more if she tells anyone."

"That is ridiculous. Dale may be an ass at times, but he is not hurting Elsa. There is no way."

"Mrs. Erickson, you do know that I am obligated by the state to report any suspected or admitted abuse, yes? Now then, I need to get a little deeper into this, but I believe Elsa when she tells me she is being hurt. To what extent, I don't know. At the very least, she believes she is being hurt, and that is enough to cause all of these symptoms. It has taken nearly four years to get this much information out of her. This is monumental, and it is also a classic sign. So please, do not dismiss what your daughter is saying. Right now, whether she wants to admit to it or not, she is crying out for help."

Melissa stood there and thought over everything Dr. Cohen was saying to her, but there was still doubt. Things couldn't possibly be that bad. There was no way Dale was abusing their daughter. She firmly believed the man was a lot of things, but he was not a monster. He provided for them, helped raise the girls, and loved them both equally. It just simply made no sense for him to hurt either of them.

Elsa and her mother said their goodbyes and left the office. On the way home, Elsa stared out the window like normal, but she wasn't really paying attention. She kept playing over and over in her head all the things that had been said, and everything that had ever happened to her. When her mother was talking to Dr. Cohen, Elsa heard her say that she didn't believe that anything was going on. This only further proved that her mother didn't care, and now thought that she was a liar as well. She didn't think she could handle much more.

00000

After finishing her homework, Elsa decided to sit down on her bed and begin writing in her diary. She had asked for it for her birthday, and had been writing in it every day since. It had become her close friend, second only to Micah. But she couldn't always talk to him, and even when she did there were certain things she couldn't tell him. But she could tell her diary anything, because it was private. Nobody was allowed to read it, not even her parents.

So she sat on her bed and wrote about the day, the things that Marshall had said and done, and her session with Dr. Cohen. She wrote everything down, no matter how small a detail it was. Her favorite parts were when she wrote about her time with Micah. Those were her most precious moments. Memories that nobody could ever take away from her. Everything they did together lifted her spirits and made her feel like she was wanted and needed, like she was more than this broken little girl that nobody gave a damn about. For Micah, she was worth something. She didn't know what exactly, but it was better than what she felt like most of the time. For her, he meant everything. He was that important to her. She wasn't quite sure what that meant yet, but that's how she felt. All of this was written in the pages of her secret little book.

After dinner, she took a shower and brushed her teeth before heading to bed. Her mother didn't read to them anymore, so Elsa took it upon herself to read to Anna. There were plenty of books to choose from, and she had finally found her favorite. It was a series of books about a girl that found a secret door to another world, and became a sorceress and a hero to it's people. There was one book in particular where the girl goes to fight an evil dragon, only to discover that the dragon isn't evil at all. He's actually rather nice, and that it was the trick of another wizard that made him seem like a monster. That book stuck out the most to her, and she had read and reread it numerous times since her mother had bought it.

Once Anna had started to drift off to sleep, Elsa quietly tiptoed out of the room and made her way back to her own. She crawled under the covers and dug through the mountain of stuffed animals and dolls for her favorite little red dragon, snuggled with it, and tried to meld herself with the bed. Moments later, she could hear her parents arguing downstairs. The floor was thick enough to muffle whatever was being said, but not the intensity or the volume. It was obvious they were being very loud, louder than normal, and she rolled over to try and ignore it. But it went on for a while, and she tried her best to block it out, but couldn't.

Eventually, at some point, the fighting finally died out. Strangely, there were no slamming of doors like normal. Elsa was only half awake, so she barely registered what was going on, but she did hear the creaking of footsteps out in the hall. She wasn't sure if she should be scared or not, and after they stopped she decided to hide under the covers, scoot as close to the wall as she could, and closed her eyes tight. When the sound stopped, she was shivering in fear. But after some time passed and nothing happened, she slowly began to drift back off to sleep. She didn't hear the door to her room open, nor hear the person responsible for the footsteps creep inside.


	5. Chapter 5 - A Brush with Death

**Chapter 5**

 _A Brush with Death_

September 15th, 2011. The new school year had just begun, and there was already a noticeable energy emitting from the students. The sixth graders were preparing to head to camp for a week of outdoor activities and bonding. It was a tradition the schools in the area had participated in for years, and it was a highlight of the year from most of the kids. They'd be mingling with students from other schools, and possibly making some new friends. At least, that's what Elsa's mother hoped for.

Once school had let out for the day, her mother picked the girls and Micah up to go to the local sporting goods store to grab a few necessities for their trip next week. They were mainly in need of sleeping bags and hiking boots for the various trails around the camp. She also had to make sure to pick up some cream for spider bites, since where they were headed was sometimes infested with them. The woods had all sorts of things hiding in the trees and under the dead leaves on the ground, and the cabins the kids were staying in had been rumored to have issues in the past. So, she was making sure that they were ready just in case.

They met with Micah's mother afterwards for an early dinner at Applebee's, since she had just gotten off of work shortly before school let out. She had finally managed to find a decent job as an assistant at a dental office in the same building as Dr. Cohen's practice. It paid well enough so that she could quit her other job busing tables at Olive Garden in the next town over. Now she was able to spend more time with her son, and provide for him better than she had in a long time. It was such a lucky break for her, and her boss was willing to help her go to school to become a licensed dental assistant. When everyone found out, they were thrilled for her.

It didn't help Micah with the issue of his father, however. The man was still in and out of jail for petty crimes, and was back to selling dope. It was the same reason he was arrested and sent to prison before. This time, however, Micah knew the reason for it. Jenny had decided it was time for him to know the truth about his father, and when he found out, he wasn't really all that surprised. His father had been such a letdown and absentee in his life that he was hardly fazed by the news. The man never paid child support, never came to see him even on his birthday, and was overall a poor role model. It was fine, though. Micah no longer cared.

The next day at school, the kids were all still busy getting ready for their trip on Monday. The teachers were finding it difficult to keep them all in check, as many were bouncing around in their seats and chatting with everyone. Lessons were difficult to get through, and it was obvious many of the children weren't going to retain much with camp being the only thing on their minds.

Even Elsa was somewhat excited, as it meant a week away from her father, who had begun to get even worse with her. She was still scared of the man, even more so now that she was getting older, and she had no idea how to keep away from him when she was at home. Being alone with him was torturous. It had gotten to the point where she hadn't been downstairs in the family room since Christmas the year prior. She even disliked spending time in her room anymore, but not nearly as much as the downstairs. At least she still had her diary to keep her company when she was there.

At lunch, she and Micah had started sitting in the corner of the cafeteria, mostly so they could keep an eye out for Marshall and his band of thugs. This year a new boy had joined in on the torment, and they were getting brave in their harassment. Micah was no longer enough to keep them away. So now they had to hide away in the lunch room. It was the only place they had found any solace from the menace and his cohorts.

During lunch, Elsa and Micah were chatting about what they wanted to do at camp, and were hoping they'd get to see each other there. They separated they boys from the girls in the cabins for obvious reasons, but during the day there didn't seem to be any problems. Of course, they were merely speculating what was going to happen. Neither of them actually knew.

As they were talking, they were interrupted by a newcomer. He was fairly tall, bigger than Micah, and was what one could only describe as burly. The hair on his head was shaggy and a dirty blonde, his eyes were light brown, and he had a large, bulbous nose. But he had a friendly smile on his face, which eased the awkwardness a little.

"Hey, do you guys mind if I sit here with you?" he asked in a slightly brusque manner.

Elsa and Micah looked at each for a moment before they both shrugged at him. "I don't think I've seen you around school before," Micah said suddenly.

"Yeah, my family just moved here before school started. We're from out of state. The name's Kristoff," the boy said, introducing himself.

"I'm Micah, and this is my friend Elsa. Are you in sixth grade too?"

"Yeah. I'm kind of looking forward to going to camp. But I doubt it'll be anything like real camping."

"Why do you say that?" Elsa asked.

"My parents took me camping all the time back home. We practically lived out in the woods. This whole thing doesn't sound like normal camping to me. But it should still be fun."

"Oh no, here comes Marshall..." Elsa groaned.

As the boy walked up to the table, his posse close behind him, he had a sneer on his face that sort of ended in a partial grin. "So you losers are going to camp too, huh?"

"Go away, Marshall. Now," Micah demanded sternly.

"Or what, Aldrin? Huh? You're not going to do anything in here."

"Do you really want to test that theory?"

"Please, we both know you'd lose."

This was enough to cause Kristoff to stand up and tower over Marshall and his friends. They suddenly fell very quiet. "Look, I don't know who you are or what your problem is with these guys, but you're not going to stand here and insult and threaten my friends. So, if I were you, I'd take these clowns of yours and scram before I get angry."

It didn't take long for his message to sink in. Marshall and the others backed away before quickly walking to the other side of the cafeteria and through the doors leading back the classrooms.

"There, that should keep them from bothering you," Kristoff said as he took his seat again.

"Holy crap," Micah exclaimed. "I've been trying to get rid of them for years. They usually pick on Elsa every chance they get. Tell him how miserable you've been."

"They've been doing this since kindergarten. It's gotten so bad that I've been afraid to come to school. If it wasn't for Micah... I don't know what I would have done," Elsa said.

Kristoff hummed to himself briefly, then folded his arms. "Well, you don't have to worry about them anymore. At least not this year. We won't let them do anything to you."

"No offense, but why do you care? You've known us for maybe five minutes."

"You seem like good people, and you certainly need some help. So, why not be friends?" he replied with a shrug.

The rest of lunch was fairly enjoyable. They mostly talked about where Kristoff was from, why his parents had moved to the city, and how long they planned on being there. From what he said, it was a new permanent home for him. His father got a great job offer in the area working for a major airplane manufacturer, and was looking at making a lot of money. So, he was here to stay. They learned he was an only child, but had a ton of cousins, nieces, and nephews. His family was rather expansive from the sounds of it.

The school day ended on a good note. Marshall backed off for the time being and left Elsa alone, and they had no homework to worry about. The ride home was quiet, except for Anna's nonstop chatter about what she did at school. So maybe it wasn't so quiet. But it was a decent ride nonetheless. They stopped at the grocery store on their way in order to grab a few things for Elsa's trip. Afterwards, they were meeting up with Micah and his mother for a movie night.

The next day, Elsa was home alone with her father. It was excruciating and tense. Her mother had taken Anna out to run a few errands, and wasn't going to be back for several hours. So it was just her and her dad. Luckily, he kept to the downstairs for the most part. There was a football game on the TV, and he was nursing another beer while watching. She could hear him occasionally cheer or yell, depending on who was winning.

She kept her door closed the whole time just to avoid listening to him. She was reading one of the books her mother had bought recently, trying her best to occupy herself. Micah wasn't home, otherwise she'd be on the phone talking to him. So her book was her only friend for the time being, which was fine. It didn't bother her that she was alone. With her father. In the same house.

After a while, the hooting and hollering from downstairs died down, and the house fell eerily quiet. At first it didn't register, as she was busy with her book. But then she heard the creaking of the floorboards out in the hall. Her breathing instantly sped up, her eyes widened, and her heart began to beat as if it were going to explode. Then there was a knock at the door.

Scooting to the corner of her bed, Elsa brought her knees up to her chest and hugged herself. "Y-yes?" she asked timidly.

The door creaked open, and in stepped her father. The stench of beer was heavy on him, and there was a strange look on his face. "How are you doing, sweetheart?"

"U-um, fine," she replied with a slight stutter.

Her father nodded and strode across the room in order to take a seat on the edge of her bed. "Good. Are you ready for camp?"

Elsa didn't say anything, only nodded. She was shaking slightly, but she doubted her father noticed. If he did, he didn't show it.

"You know," he started to say, bringing a hand up to her legs and resting it on one, rubbing up and down on it, "I went to camp around your age and enjoyed it. So I hope you enjoy it as well. It was a good experience."

Quickly, Elsa brushed his hand away from her, but he brought it back moments later. She was terrified. When she brushed it away again, it angered him and he suddenly backhanded her right across the face, causing her to yelp out in pain.

"Don't you dare," he snarled drunkenly.

"P-p-please, no!" Elsa begged frantically.

After looking her up and down for a brief moment, her father stood back up and walked towards the door. "Don't you ever do that to me again," he said as he began to undo his belt and slammed the door shut.

00000

By the time Monday came, Elsa couldn't get out of the house fast enough. On the ride to school, she tried really hard not to think about what happened Saturday. Her safety net was at school and getting on those buses in just a couple hours. Her class was sharing a bus with Micah and Kristoff's, so the three of them were going to get to hang out the whole way to camp. The teachers and principal all said that it was roughly a three hour bus ride, so they had plenty of time to hang out and chit chat. Hopefully it would be enough to take her mind off things.

The morning was fairly busy as the kids were doing last minute checks of their things to make sure everything was where it should be. The buses arrived about an hour after school started, and everyone got excited as they were led out to their designated rides. Stowing their things into the compartments on the sides of the buses, the kids were soon loaded up and chaos then ensued as they all fought over who would sit where. Elsa managed to save a seat for Micah, who arrived shortly after she did. Kristoff got stuck sitting behind them, but it didn't make it all that difficult for them to talk on the way there.

Once the buses were at capacity, they revved up and were on their way towards the highway. It was fairly quiet for the first half hour or so, and then the kids started to get bored and chatter practically erupted. Elsa busied herself with looking out the window, watching as the countryside slowly passed by. There was going to be a lot of scenery to take in over the course of the trip, and she wanted to see as much of it as she could. She found it to be rather calming.

"You look down," Micah eventually said, interrupting her thoughts.

"Oh. It's nothing," she lied.

"Elsa, you know that's not true. We've been friends a long time. Talk to me."

"There is nothing wrong. Honest."

"Why are you lying to me? You've been doing that a lot lately."

Elsa didn't answer right away. Instead, she returned her gaze to the view outside the bus window, then sighed. "Do you remember how I told you my dad was hurting me?"

"Yeah, I remember."

"Well, it's getting worse. I don't know how to stop it."

"You have to tell someone. I don't understand why you won't."

"Because, Micah, nobody will believe me. I don't have any proof of what he does."

"If he's hurting you, then there has to be marks. Like bruises or something."

"He isn't hurting me like that."

"Then how? I don't understand."

"Look, I can't talk about it. Okay? It's embarrassing enough as it is."

"Elsa, I just want to help."

"I know, but you can't. No one can."

"Why don't you tell a teacher then?" Kristoff said suddenly.

"Were you listening the whole time?" Elsa asked, mortified.

"Well, kind of. Not entirely on purpose. But if your pop is doing something bad, you really should tell someone."

"But don't you guys see? I can't. I just can't!" she exclaimed, getting visibly upset.

"Whoa, calm down," Kristoff urged. "I'm just saying that it will help if you do. Teachers are supposed to be on our side for stuff like this. And if I'm not mistaken, you said on Friday that you have a therapist, right? Tell them. They'll know how to help. That's their job."

"I don't see Dr. Cohen until next month. Who knows what will happen before then."

"Exactly. You don't know. That's why you need to tell someone. Please," Micah pleaded.

"But you don't understand. If I tell someone, he'll just hurt Anna instead. I can't let that happen."

"So what? You're just going to let him keep hurting you?"

"For now, yes."

They fell silent for awhile, until Kristoff started telling them stories about his times camping. He was good at that sort of thing, and had lots of stories to tell. It was rather fun for the others to listen to, and it even made them laugh at times. The time flew by, and he managed to fill in nearly two hours with stories until they arrived at their destination.

As the camp came into view, a large wooden sign passed by on the side of the road reading 'Welcome To Camp Lhookwalh' in thick white letters. The area was heavily forested, and the evergreens stretched high into the sky. The road in was mostly dirt and gravel, and wasn't flat in the least, making the buses rock and bounce around on the rough terrain. The teachers started yelling for everyone to sit down so nobody fell and got hurt. After a short bit, the buses pulled into the parking area near the camp entrance. They finally rolled to a stop, and the teachers began leading the kids out to the assembly area near the main office. The sun was beating down on the camp, and the lack of a breeze didn't help with the heat any.

While the kids were being gathered into something that resembled an orderly assembly after unloading their things from the buses, the camp councilors began walking around and introducing themselves to the groups of kids everywhere. Elsa ended up getting grouped with a bunch of girls she didn't know from a couple other classes, and her councilor was some young woman named Amy. She seemed nice, and had a sort of bubbly personality, but also didn't come across as too terribly intelligent. Elsa wasn't sure what to think of her.

A few minutes later, the councilors began leading the kids further into the campground towards a bunch of cabins off to one side. The girls were led to a handful of cabins designated 'Oak' and 'Pine'. They were small and quaint, and had the outer facade of a log cabin like one would see in the movies. The interior was a little less rustic, with wood paneling and a finished hardwood floor. There were four bunk beds per cabin, and the beds looked like they had seen better days. There were remnants of old stickers stuck to the sides of the beds, much like the ones you would place on the front of a school binder, and there were so many scratch marks that it was hard to determine what the original finish of the wood was.

The other girls immediately made a move for the different beds, leaving the bottom bunk on one of the beds against the back wall open for Elsa. It was perfectly fine by her. She preferred the lower bunk anyway. It also felt safe to have her back away from the door. It was a habit she had gotten into at home. But here she didn't have her father to be concerned with.

The girls were left to settle in for the time being, and their councilor left to check on the other cabins. While she was unpacking her things for the next few days, Elsa could hear the other girls talking, but chose to ignore them. Most of the time it was meaningless and inane nonsense that she didn't want to be bothered with. One thing she had learned from her years of school was that she had nothing in common with the other girls her age. She was simply too quiet and introverted, which most kids didn't seem to be. But she had been shy her whole life, and she always thought she was weird compared to the other kids. Marshall made sure to remind her of that on a near daily basis.

As she was busying herself with organizing her clothes, one of the girls came up to her and tapped her on the shoulder. When Elsa looked up at her, the girl was smiling and toying with her short, jet black hair.

"What's your name?" the girl asked abruptly.

"Um, Elsa."

"I'm Rose. I'm in Mr. Lawrence's class for home room."

"I'm in Ms. Clover's class. I think my friend has the same teacher as you."

"Really? What's her name?"

"His name is Micah Aldrin," Elsa said as she returned to sorting through her things.

"Oh, I know him! He's in my science class too. He was my lab partner."

Elsa didn't really respond with much more than a nod and a hum. She hoped that if she kept looking busy that the girl would leave her alone. It didn't seem to work though.

"I heard that we get to go on a tour of the camp soon. Want to be my buddy?"

"Why?"

"Because you seem cool," Rose said nonchalantly.

Elsa was taken aback by this statement. " _I_ seem cool? You clearly don't know me."

"Are you not cool?"

"I'm the teacher's pet according to everyone, and a weirdo. Everyone avoids talking to me if they can. I'm normally really shy and quiet and like to keep to myself. Micah is one of the only people to ever be nice to me or think I'm worth being friends with."

"Well, now I do too."

"But why? You just met me."

"I can just tell. We're gonna be friends."

Not sure how to take this news, Elsa sat down on her bunk and just watched as the other girls talked and went through their things. After a little while their councilor came back and called them out for a tour of the camp.

The place wasn't all that big, but there were lots of hiking trails, and a lake nearby. Since it was summer time, swimming was permitted as long as there was a lifeguard on duty. But as they soon found out, their days were going to be relatively structured. They would have free time of course, but a lot of the stuff they would be doing was team building exercises. They were going to learn about first aid and wilderness safety, do some arts and crafts, camp outs, and challenges of various types. It sounded as if they were going to be rather busy.

The councilors didn't waste any time in beginning the kids' activities. Elsa was in the first group to learn all the first aid stuff they'd need to know. They covered everything from treating bumps and scrapes to more advanced things such as CPR. As usual, she made sure to pay close attention to everything they were taught, and being the fast learner that she is, she caught on very quickly. Councilor Amy was quite impressed with her.

Soon it was lunchtime, and the kids headed to the lunch room to get served some mediocre burgers and fries. The food was dry and bland, and no one was all that thrilled to eat it. Micah had managed to reserve a table for him and his friends near the front of the hall. Taking a bite of his food while he waited for the others to arrive, he immediately spit it out and had to drink some of the milk that came with his meal. He didn't think milk and hamburgers mixed, but there was little he could do about the bizarre decision. When his friends did finally arrive, neither of them looked too happy with the food either. Then he noticed a girl with black hair following Elsa, and he quirked an eyebrow at her.

"Who's this?" he asked.

"Oh, this is Rose. My bunk mate and new friend, apparently," Elsa said. She didn't sound too sure of the situation herself.

The girl had a big dopey smile on her face, and waved rather enthusiastically to everyone. "Hi! It's really cool to meet you guys. Except for you, Micah. I already knew you. But it's still really neat to meet you outside of class!"

The girls sat down together, and Kristoff didn't seem even remotely fazed by the appearance of someone new. "New friend, huh?"

Elsa just looked down at her tray of food and lightly blushed. "Um, yeah. I guess."

"Cool. Name's Kristoff."

"So what do you guys think so far?" Micah asked, breaking up the awkwardness for Elsa's sake.

"It's not quite what I expected," Elsa said. "Of course, I'm not sure what I expected. I've never gone camping before. This isn't what it's actually like, is it?"

"Heck no," Kristoff adamantly replied. "Real camping involves tents, fire pits, going to the bathroom in the woods... Just sort of being connected with nature. None of this nonsense."

"I take it you don't like it," Micah asked.

"I don't know yet. All we've done is learn to how to tie some knots. I already knew how to do most of them. My pop taught me that stuff a long time ago. Apparently these camp councilors have never seen a kid capable of tying a slipknot before."

"I don't even know what that is," Rose chimed in.

"Don't worry, you'll learn soon enough," the burly blonde said with a smirk.

"Looks like we have some free time after lunch. At least that's what Joseph said," Micah said, changing the subject entirely.

"Who's Joseph?"

"Oh, our councilor. You forgot his name already?"

"I didn't bother paying attention."

"Maybe you should have."

"Meh."

"So what do you guys want to do then?" Elsa asked.

"I sort of want to go check out the lake. I heard we're allowed to go swimming," Micah replied.

"Micah, you don't know how to swim."

"It's not like I'd go to the deep part. I'd stay near the shore."

"But that isn't really swimming," Rose said. "I mean, what's the point?"

"I don't know. I just don't want to be left out," he admitted with a shrug.

Elsa turned to scan over the crowded mess hall, primarily looking for Marshall and praying that he wasn't going to bother them while at camp. Hopefully, he'd be too busy to do any bullying. She hadn't seen him on the bus, but that didn't mean anything. There had been three buses.

"Well, we can at least head down to the dock and check out the water. I caught a glimpse of it coming in and it looked beautiful," Elsa finally said as she returned her attention to her friends.

After they finished their less than satisfying lunch, the group headed down the path that led to the dock. It stretched out into the water nearly thirty feet, but was somewhat rickety and old. The boards creaked under their weight, but seemed sturdy enough to hold. At the far end were a couple of cleats with some boats tied off to them.

Micah took the lead and headed for the end of the dock, and looked out over the water. The lake was calm and serene, the mirror-like surface unmarred by the rippling effects of a leaf or insect landing on the top. There were no signs of fish being in the water, but that was unlikely. It was the middle of the day, and it seemed strange that they weren't breaking the surface to catch the bugs that buzzed too close to the water. The air seemed a little cooler here, most likely due to the cold depths mingling with the heat bearing down on them from above.

"This is pretty cool," he said as he approached the end of the dock.

"You can see the mountains from here," Elsa added breathlessly.

"This is what you go camping for. Not all that nonsense back there," Kristoff said with a jab of his thumb back towards the camp.

"When do you think they'll let us go for a swim?" Rose asked as she sat down on the edge of the wooden platform, kicking her feet.

"No idea. Maybe this afternoon?"

Taking another step forward, Micah leaned over the edge of the dock and looked down into the water. "It's kind of hard to see in there."

"Micah, please get away from there," Elsa begged. "You're going to fall in."

"It's fi-"

He was cut off abruptly as the wood planks beneath his feet snapped, sending him reeling forward and face first into the murky water below. Before anyone could react, he began to sink deeper into the water.

"Micah!" Elsa shrieked.

"Wait here, I'll go get help," Kristoff assured her as he turned and ran as fast as he could back towards the camp.

Panicking, Elsa decided that she couldn't wait for help to arrive. As quickly as she could, she slipped off her shoes and dove in after him. The water was deep and dark, and she could barely see anything. She felt around for him, praying that she could find him struggling. After about 10 seconds of frantic searching, she had to resurface to get some air before diving back down. When she reached the bottom, she felt something grab onto her arm. She realized immediately that it was his hand, and with as much strength as she had, she pulled on it and swam back up to the surface as fast as humanly possible.

When she resurfaced, there were other people already there near the lake looking out to see what was happening. She struggled to drag him towards the shore, but miraculously managed to make it in record time. It concerned her, though, that he was no longer moving or struggling, and as she swam with him, she kept reassuring him that he was going to be okay.

Elsa finally managed to pull him up to shore, and laid him down on the wet sand. His lips were an icy blue and cold, and it terrified her immensely. Then she remembered the CPR training they had learned just hours earlier. Quickly, she started with the chest compressions, counting to ten. Then she tilted his head back and blew air down his throat, trying to get him to actually breathe. She repeated this process, pumping on his chest and trying to push air down into his lungs. At first it seemed like minutes had passed, but eventually he started to cough and vomit up the water he had swallowed.

"Oh god, Micah," she cried as she wrapped her arms around him, cradling his head close to her chest. She was sobbing and scared out of her mind.

He shuddered for a couple minutes until one of the councilors came and wrapped him up in a blanket and walked him off towards the nurse's station. Elsa followed close behind, and ignored the councilor's orders to head back. She didn't give a damn about anything but Micah's well-being.

Inside, the small building didn't look like much. There was a row of four beds lined against the wall, and there were a handful of cabinets filled with medical supplies like bandage wrap and disinfectant. The woman inside ushered Micah to one of the beds, and Elsa took a seat on the bed across from him. The nurse gave her an odd look but said nothing. After checking him over, taking his temperature and making sure he was coherent, the nurse left to talk to one of the councilors.

Leaning over to get closer to Micah, Elsa smacked him on the arm as hard as she could. "You idiot! You could have died! I told you to get back!"

"Ow! I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to fall in."

"That isn't good enough, Micah. I was scared as hell. I thought I had lost you..."

"I know. I'm really sorry. I'll listen to you next time."

"You had better. I will not be burying the most important person in my life because he is careless."

"Wait. I'm the most important person in your life?"

Suddenly, Elsa blushed a deep red and looked down at her bare feet. "Well, yeah... I, um, I..."

"You what?" he asked.

"Never mind. It doesn't matter," she said hurriedly.

"Don't think you're going to get away with not telling me. I'm going to get it out of you one way or another," he replied with a smirk.

"Whatever. How do you feel?"

"Cold. Really cold."

"Don't you ever do that to me again."

"I promise, I won't. Oh, and thanks... For saving me."

00000

The rest of the week went by in a blur, but luckily without any further incident. Friday morning, the kids found themselves right back on the buses they had arrived on. Elsa and her friends all managed to get a couple seats next to each other, and spent the three hour ride home talking about everything they had done over the course of the last four days. Aside from Micah almost dying, everyone had a relatively good time.

Rose and Kristoff had somehow worked their way into becoming friends with Elsa and Micah. She didn't know how or why, but Elsa had grown fond of them both since she first met them. They were pretty relaxed and didn't pick on her, and actually looked out for her. At one point Marshall had made another attempt to bully Elsa when the boys weren't around, but Rose quickly stepped up to the plate and slapped him silly. Once he went running off, Rose turned to Elsa and gave her the biggest, brightest smile she could muster. The best part was it was completely genuine.

The buses arrived at the school shortly after lunch had finished, but the cafeteria remained open until the sixth graders sat down to eat. After lunch, it was only a couple hours until they went home, and the teachers basically just let the kids do whatever until then. The middle school wasn't as big as the elementary school had been, with only three grade levels being represented, and it was difficult to keep the kids quiet. They didn't get a recess anymore like they used to.

After school was let out, Elsa, Micah, and Melissa crammed all their luggage into the back of the car before heading home. Her mother had agreed to let Micah stay the night, which Elsa hadn't expected. He had on a few of occasions in the past, but it took a lot of convincing to get it to happen. They had a spare guest room that was never used, so he got to sleep in there whenever he did actually get to stay.

Once they were home and unpacked, they headed to Elsa's room to hang out. Her room had changed drastically over the years, with most of the girly stuff that she used to have replaced with things teenagers typically liked. She had a couple posters for a some rock bands that she liked – which surprised her parents – and a TV set with a Playstation 3 hooked up to it. There was her pet rat Pixel, whose cage sat on top of her dresser. Her desk had a laptop on it that she used to Skype with Micah when they weren't together, or they just texted one another on their phones. In the corner was a new rounded bookshelf with a bunch of books that she had begged for, such as the ever popular Harry Potter series.

Tossing their things into the corner of the room, they both took a seat on Elsa's bed. Neither of them talked for several minutes as they just sort of unwound and relaxed in silence. Then Elsa turned and punched Micah in the arm as hard as she could. When he looked at her with confusion in his eyes, she gave him mock-angry stare.

"You jerk! You ever do that again and I will kill you myself," she exclaimed with a huff.

"What the hell are you talking about? I didn't do anything!" he argued.

"I'm talking about when you fell in the lake, dork."

"Hey, you already yelled at me for that. You can't do it twice."

"I can too. I'm still mad at you for it."

"Elsa, that isn't fair. I said I was sorry."

"Micah, what if you had died? What if I wasn't fast enough? What if I froze and didn't do anything? I would have lost you."

"Geez, Elsa, I didn't know it bothered you that much."

"Of course it did! I barely slept all week because of it! What would I do if you were to go and die on me?"

"I don't know. I imagine it would suck."

"That's the best you can come up with? Micah, I would be devastated! I can barely handle things when you aren't here. Think of how my life would be if you were dead. Or your mother's. Hell, Anna and my mother would be upset too. So you would be leaving behind people that care about you," she said as she shoved a finger into his chest.

Micah was nervously scratching the back of his neck as he looked anywhere but at Elsa. He was rather ashamed, and it showed on his face. For that very reason, he felt like the world's biggest jerk. "I'm really sorry, Elsa. I didn't know you cared that much about me."

"Are you stupid? I've already told you that you're the most important thing in my life. Without you, I would be a complete wreck. I'm a mess already as it is, but you make it better."

"...I'm sorry. I really am. I was careless, and I should have listened to you. This is why I need to learn how to swim. In case you didn't notice, I sank like a rock."

Elsa let a groan of frustration, this time a little more genuine than before. "Of course I noticed! You weren't in the water more than five seconds before you were sucked down. I jumped in almost immediately after you disappeared. You are so damn lucky I know how to swim. I have never been more scared in my life. I almost didn't find you, and then it was super hard to drag you to shore. There were so many people watching. Nobody bothered to help. They just stood there and watched. I guess it was pretty convenient that we learned CPR that morning."

"That is actually kind of funny," he said as he tried to fake a laugh.

"No, it's not! God, I can't believe you right now. If you were my boyfriend I would be breaking up with you rig-" She cut herself off as soon as she realized what she had said, and then blushed a shade of crimson red that heated her face like a burner on a stove top.

Micah didn't say anything for a minute, almost as embarrassed as Elsa was by that comment. When he tried to talk, he had to cough a couple times to try and clear both his throat and his head. "Yeah, well, um, I won't ever let it happen again. I swear. I'm not going to do anything stupid or dangerous from here on out. I've learned my lesson. I don't ever want you pissed off at me again either. It makes me feel like crap. Letting you down is not something I ever want to do ever again."

"You didn't let me down. You just scared me to death. It's just that you can't be so reckless. The dock wasn't stable enough to begin with. What you did just made it worse."

"Oh yeah. You were going to say something back at camp when we were in the nurse's station, but you changed your mind. What was it?"

"What are you... Oh. That. It was nothing," she lied.

"Oh come on, just tell me. It was obviously important enough to make you all embarrassed about it. Why can't you just let it out?" he asked, practically begging.

"It's not something I ever meant to tell you, and I'm never going to tell you. So just drop it."

"Please?"

"No. Now shut up."

"I'm going to get you to tell me someday."

"No, you're not. Now then, do you want to play something on the Playstation or what?"


	6. Chapter 6 - First Kiss

**Chapter 6**

 _First Kiss_

October 25th, 2012. Elsa and Micah were siting on the bed in her room playing a nice, calming, cooperative game of Borderlands 2 on her PlayStation 3. It was late October, and the weather outside was dreary and gray. They had been spending a lot more time together during the week due to the fact that Micah and his mother had moved closer during the summer. Because of her job, they could now afford a small three-bedroom house only a few blocks away. So now, they were basically inseparable. Elsa couldn't possibly be happier.

Seventh grade was fast underway, and it was proving to be an interesting year. The most exciting bit, as far as Elsa was concerned, was that they were going to get to dissect frogs and cats later in the year. The dead cats were provided by the local animal shelter after they euthanized them. A lot of strays ended up that way, and with so many with untreatable diseases and other problems, they usually had to be put down. It worked out perfectly for the biology students.

Micah, however, was not so thrilled. He couldn't handle real life blood and gore, and the very thought of cutting into a dead body caused him to shudder violently and turn pale. Fake violence, on the other hand, didn't seem to bother him. Not even the type in movies. But any time one of them got a scrape or cut, he couldn't be around it. If it was him that was bleeding, he panicked and looked away while Elsa or his mother cleaned it up for him. Elsa and Anna both loved to give him a hard time about it. It didn't help that he was also terrified of needles. It made getting a flu shot rather difficult.

Their friendship had become a lot deeper since the day he almost drowned. After Elsa berated him and told him how important he really was to her, they were much closer than ever before. He was constantly making sure that he wasn't doing something utterly stupid or that would get him in trouble with her again, and she was constantly babying him to the point that it was almost smothering. Micah didn't mind though. He never did when it was her. But at least now he was beginning to know why.

They were busy killing bandits and listening to Claptrap run his robotic mouth when Anna waltzed in with the house phone in her hand. She waited patiently for her sister to notice her, but Elsa was too wrapped up in her game to notice much around her. Eventually, Anna's patience wore very thin, and she waved her hand in front of them both to get their attention.

"Hello, Elsa! Hey! You have a phone call from Rose. Answer it," she commanded in her most bossy tone she could manage.

"Ugh, fine. Hand it here," Elsa said absentmindedly. She still hadn't taken her eyes off the screen.

After handing the phone over to her sister, Anna sat down on the bed next to them and decided to watch them as they played. "So which one of you is on the bottom?" she asked.

"I am," Micah replied, paying little attention to the redhead.

"Hello?" Elsa asked into the phone, barely remembering that it was Rose on the other end.

 _"Hey, what are you doing next Wednesday?"_ Rose responded.

"Next Wednesday? That's Halloween isn't it?"

 _"Yeah. Do you want to come over? We're sort of having a party."_

"A party. Don't you remember who you're talking to? I don't do parties."

 _"Oh come on! Kyle Summers will be there. My parents know his parents, in case you were wondering."_

"I wasn't. And so what if Kyle is there. Why does that matter?"

 _"Because I know you think he's cute. You told me so not two weeks ago."_

"So I think he's cute, so what?"

This perked Micah's ears right up, and made him do a double-take at his friend, who somehow hadn't noticed.

 _"Look, I'm trying to hook you up. He apparently likes you too. I think you should consider it. You've never had a boyfriend before."_

"So? Neither have you."

 _"I have too. So is Kyle going to be a thing or what?"_

"I don't know, Rose. I really don't like parties, even just casual ones. Why do you think I don't have birthday parties? I don't like the cake or presents or the attention. I don't think a Halloween party is going to be my kind of thing."

 _"Come on! You need to have some fun. Micah and Kristoff are invited as well."_

"What makes you think that either of them want to go?"

 _"I already asked them."_

"When the hell did Rose ask you to go to her Halloween party?" Elsa asked Micah, slightly surprised.

"Earlier today. I think it was in fourth or fifth period. Why?"

"She didn't bother to ask me," Elsa stated, making absolutely sure that Rose could hear her on the other end.

 _"Elsa, I'm sorry. I didn't get a chance to talk to you about it when I saw you. So are you coming or what?"_

"You are so lucky I like you."

 _"Yes! The party starts at 7 pm, but you guys can come over whenever. It's mostly going to be my parents' friends anyway, but a couple of them are bringing their kids. Most of them are younger than us, but Kyle will be there and you two can hook up!"_

"Rose, I am not making any promises there, alright? You don't need to try and play matchmaker."

 _"Whatever. I know you'll cave before long. Anyway, I gotta go. My parents are yelling at me to do my homework. Later."_

After she hung up the phone, Elsa finally noticed the look she was getting from her friend. It wasn't a very amused one. "What?"

"You think Kyle is cute? And what, Rose is trying to hook you two up?"

"Yeah, apparently. Why do you care?"

"I don't," he lied.

"Funny. Seems to me like it's bothering you."

"It is not."

"Now I know you're lying."

"You frustrate me. But seriously, Kyle? Why him?"

"I don't know. It's not really something I've ever considered. This is mostly Rose's doing. She wants me to have a boyfriend. Thinks it'll bring me out of my shell or something. I honestly am not all that interested. I made the mistake of telling her that he was slightly pleasing to the eye and she took it as I was interested in him. I think she's wasting her time, honestly."

"So you're not going to date him?" He sounded almost pleased.

"I'm not even fourteen yet. Dating isn't something I've ever thought about. Besides, I'm too messed up to even worry about that stuff."

"Elsa, you are not messed up."

"Yes, Micah, I am. Remember all the things I've told you over the last few years?"

Before answering, he shot a quick glance at Anna, making sure to phrase his answer carefully. "You mean all the stuff about him?"

"Yes. I know I've never told you everything, and maybe someday I'll be able to, but the stuff he's put me through has really screwed with me. I'm not okay."

"Elsa, you are not screwed up in the head. I live with you. You're always on top of things, you always seem pretty happy, and you never act weird. So I don't know why you think you're not alright." Anna finally chimed in.

Her statement made Elsa smile a little, but it wasn't really enough. She knew it wasn't true. There was no way it could be. Not with what went on in her head.

"Anna, can you give us a few minutes?" Elsa asked her sister.

"Okay. Just tell me when you're done being secretive."

After Anna left, Elsa turned to her friend and had a very serious look on her face. "Look, I'm a god damn mess. I have thought about hurting myself. Killing myself, Micah. Kids our age aren't supposed to think about that stuff. It is such a pain to wake up every day and wishing that you could just die. It's something I hope you never have to go through. It's a nightmare. My life is a nightmare, and I can't wake up. After everything he has done to me..." Elsa finds herself unable to finish before getting teary-eyed. Falling silent, she rests her hands in her lap and gazes out her bedroom window.

"Have you told Dr. Cohen?"

"Yes. She's prescribing me some medication to help with my depression. Micah, I'm thirteen. I shouldn't be like this."

"Can you please tell me what has happened to you? I've been scared for you for years now. You trust me with everything. You know I won't tell anyone unless you want me to."

Elsa bit her bottom lip and contemplated the whole thing. She desperately wanted to tell him, but she just didn't know if she could yet. But, in a bold effort to set things right, she got up from her bed and strode across her room to the door, shutting it as quietly as she could. Then she turned her attention back towards Micah and started playing with her braid.

"Um, okay," she said, nervous as hell. "Uh. What I'm about to tell you you have to swear that you will never tell anyone. Ever. Not my mother, Anna, your mother, our friends...nobody. Can you promise me that?"

"You know I do."

"You have to say it, Micah. Promise me," she begged.

"I promise. Not a word to anyone. Ever."

"Okay. Um," she mutters, her breathing increasing in speed and her adrenaline pumping. "Do you remember when I told you my dad hurts me, and that it was getting worse?"

"Yeah, you've told me a few times."

"Yeah, well, it's worse than just that. He does hit me, but he makes sure not to leave any marks. He likes to use his belt. But, um, that's not everything..."

"Holy shit. If that isn't everything, what else is there?"

"Oh god, this is embarrassing. I don't know if I can do this."

"Elsa, please, talk to me."

Taking a deep breath, Elsa did her best to calm her nerves before continuing. It didn't help much. "Okay. Well, um, he also likes to, um, touch me. Down there. And he takes pictures, usually of me without any clothes on." Her face was extremely red, and she wasn't looking at him anymore.

Micah's eyes were bulging in their sockets, and his jaw hung wide open. He didn't say or do anything for a long time. All he did was stare in shock. It was beginning to make Elsa very uncomfortable.

"Oh my god... Elsa, what the hell? Why in the world have you not told anyone? This is sick."

"Because, if I do, he said he'll hurt me even more. And that he'll hurt Anna too. He hasn't touched her, only me. I have to make sure it stays that way."

"That is not a good enough of an answer, Elsa. Not even close. What about this do you think you deserve?"

"What?" she asked him, completely perplexed.

"You told me a lot that you deserved everything he did to you. How can you possibly deserve _that?"_

"I don't know, I just do. I've obviously done something very bad to deserve what I get. He even tells me that on a regular basis."

"That's no excuse! Elsa, you better tell someone."

"I can't!"

"You have to. This isn't okay. If you want, I will help you tell someone."

"Micah, no one would believe me. I have zero evidence to go with. It's just my word versus his. He's an adult. They'll listen to him over me."

They both fell silent after that. Neither knew what to say or do. Elsa's deepest, darkest secret was out in the open now. The only person on earth who knew was the one person she trusted more than anyone else, even her own flesh and blood. The worst part was there was nothing she could do to change her situation. As far as she was concerned, she was stuck in a hell that had no escape.

00000

Halloween came quicker than anyone was expecting. It was nearly 6 pm, and Elsa was dressed as nicely as she could be to go to Rose's house. Being thirteen, she felt she was too old to dress up anymore. She still wanted to, and still loved the idea, but didn't think it would be all that appropriate at her age. The candy was always nice, though.

It was Kristoff's mother that picked her up, with Micah already in tow. The ride to Rose's place wasn't that long, and when they arrived there was already several cars parked outside. The exterior of the house had fake spiderwebs strewn all over, and half a dozen jack-o-lanterns adorned the front steps. In the yard itself were a few gravestones that had been erected, complete with zombie arms jutting out of the ground. Her parents were apparently quite into the holiday.

Rose was already outside waiting for them, dressed up as some character from an anime she liked. Elsa couldn't remember which one. She waved and led them inside through the living room, where a couple other kids were already sitting watching some Halloween special on TV. The group didn't bother to pay attention to what the others were watching, and instead headed towards Rose's room.

The bedroom itself was rather spacious, bigger than Elsa's, and had a nice view of the woods beyond her backyard. Her walls were mostly covered in anime posters, although she had a couple video game ones as well. She didn't have any pets, but she had a big flat-screen TV on a table in the corner, and a lava lamp with purple goo on the inside. Even her bed was big.

"So, Kyle should be here soon," Rose began with a grin. "I am totally going to set you up."

Elsa rolled her eyes at her friend, and ignored the stare she got from Micah. Surprisingly, Kristoff didn't seem to care. "Can we not talk about that? I'm not even sure I want to do anything about it."

"Oh come on! You need a boyfriend!"

"Why? Besides you don't have one."

"That's irrelevant."

"Not really. You're trying to play matchmaker without having any dating experience yourself."

"I'll have you know I had a boyfriend in fifth grade."

"That doesn't count."

"It so does."

"Not really, Rose," Kristoff interrupted.

"Why are we talking about dating? Elsa clearly isn't interested," Micah added. He was feeling rather uncomfortable with the discussion.

"I didn't say I'm not interested. I said I don't know if I am," the snowy blonde retorted.

"Look, it's whatever. I'm going to try and see where this goes. You should at least give it a chance. If it doesn't work out, then no harm done." Rose sounded like she was pleading with Elsa.

Elsa let out a frustrated sigh and rolled her eyes again. "...Fine. I'll at least give it a shot if it'll shut you up. But no promises. If he turns out to be a creep then I'm not going to do it."

"What?! You're actually going to go through with this?" Micah asked incredulously.

"I don't know. I guess. I mean, Rose is technically right. I have nothing to lose."

This made Rose very happy, as she was jumping up and down while clapping enthusiastically. "This is going to be great! Elsa will have a boyfriend!"

"I didn't say we were going to start dating. I said I'd talk to him for a bit and see what happens. I'm still really not sure about this whole dating thing."

"Please, I know full well that as soon as you get a chance, you'll be his girlfriend."

The group decided it was time to change the subject, primarily so Elsa didn't feel any more embarrassed than she already was, and because Micah was secretly getting quite jealous. They talked about what they were doing at school mostly, while Rose was keeping an eye and an ear out for Kyle and his parents to arrive. The rest of her parents' friends were already there, so it was only a matter of time before he showed up.

At about 7:15 pm there was a knock at the door, and Rose bolted out of the room to answer it. A couple minutes later, she returned with Kyle in tow, who simply waved at everyone as he entered the room. Rose quickly introduced him to everyone, who already knew him from school unofficially. It didn't take long for him to join in on the conversation. Somehow, he didn't notice the death stare that Micah was shooting at him the entire time.

About a half an hour later, Rose decided it was time to give Elsa and Kyle a little alone time, so she called Micah and Kristoff out to the living room to help her hand out candy to some trick or treaters. The two of them sat in an awkward silence for several minutes.

"So..." Kyle said after a bit of waiting for Elsa to start talking.

"So..." she mimicked. She was looking down at her hands that were resting her lap, nervously fidgeting with the hem of her shirt.

"Do you like video games?" he finally asked.

"Yeah. I mean, I have a PlayStation, so yeah. I guess," Elsa replied nervously.

"Cool. I have an Xbox. What's your favorite game?"

"I don't know. I've been playing a lot of Borderlands with Micah. So probably that."

"Oh cool. Are you guys, like, together or something?"

"What? No! He's my best friend. That's all. I don't have a boyfriend."

"Oh, okay. Good."

"Why is that good?" Elsa asked with raised eyebrow.

"Oh. Um, that's not what I meant to say. I meant that it's good that he's your best friend. He seems like a pretty cool guy."

"He is. But I've known him since kindergarten. It'd be weird if we were together." She wasn't sure if she was lying or not.

"Yeah, probably. So, do you want to hang out sometime?"

"Oh. I don't know. I mean, I'm usually kind of a loner. I don't do much really. I'm actually kind of boring."

"I don't think so."

"You don't?"

Kyle started scratching the back of his neck, and looked like he was fumbling with his thoughts on what to say next. They both sat in more awkward silence for a bit, just kind of looking around the room instead of at each other. Out of habit, Elsa started to fidget with the end of her braid. She had no idea what to do next. Eventually, they looked at each other and smiled, mostly out of nervousness.

"So, to answer your question. No, I don't think you're boring. You're like the smartest kid in our class. You always know the answers, and Mr. Ableson seems to rely on you to help everyone else. I don't know, you just seem kind of cool, and you're cute."

Elsa's heart skipped a beat, then seemed to launch itself vertically up into her throat. "Wait, what? You think I'm cute?"

"Well, I mean, yeah. I've been kind of thinking of asking you out, but you didn't seem like the type."

"What does that mean?"

"Like you aren't interested in that sort of thing."

"Oh."

"Do you want to try?"

"Oh, um...sure. I guess." She had no idea what else to say. _I can't believe I'm doing this._

"Cool. You should come over to my house this weekend. We can do something together."

"Okay."

The rest of the night was rather awkward, but not as much as the conversation that had taken place in Rose's bedroom. They decided to join the others out in the living room and have some of the snacks that were provided by her parents. There were a bunch of trick or treaters that stopped by, and Elsa sort of took over handing out candy. She didn't mind, since she usually did it at home too. Around 9 pm Kristoff's mother picked the kids up again and took them home.

When Elsa stepped inside, she was immediately bombarded with questions by Anna. "So, how'd it go? Did you meet with Kyle? Did you two kiss? Are you guys dating now? What's he like? Is he cute? Do you actually like him?"

"Whoa, Anna, slow down. It went fine. Yes, Kyle was there. No, I didn't kiss him, and probably never will. Yeah, I guess we're dating. He's alright. He likes video games too. I think he's sort of attractive. Yes, I sort of like him, at least as a person." Elsa had to stop and catch her breath. How her sister was able to ramble off all those questions at once without taking a breath in between was beyond her.

"Elsa has a boyfriend! Yay!" Anna exclaimed as she hopped around excitedly, and Elsa had to roll her eyes at her.

"If you're done celebrating, I'd like to head to bed now," she said as she dismissed her sister and headed off towards her room.

00000

The school year rolled on as always, and the group dynamics had changed once more. Kyle had begun hanging out with the others, much to Micah's displeasure. It didn't seem to bother anyone else. Even Elsa seemed to enjoy his company probably more than she let on. They met everyday at lunch, and Kyle had started walking Elsa to all her classes. They weren't quite at the level of holding hands, mostly because Elsa was still too reserved for such intimacy. But they spent a lot of time together. So much so that she wasn't hanging out with Micah nearly as often as she once did. After school, she would either be at Kyle's house or he would be at hers. Her friends would sometimes be invited over, but not like before.

It was late May, nearly the end of the school year, when things began to pick up the pace. Kyle had invited Elsa over to play some video games, something they did quite often. When she arrived, he threw open the door and welcomed her in as she waved goodbye to her mother. They immediately headed to his room so they could settle in for some good gaming. He was playing Bioshock Infinite, so Elsa settled in to watch him play for a bit.

After a little bit of pointless chitchatting between the two, Kyle paused the game and looked at Elsa, who was waiting for him to continue playing. "So, I have a question for you."

"Okay, sure."

"Would you mind if I kissed you?"

Elsa's eyes widened instantly at the question. She was not ready for it. "Oh, um, I don't know. I've never thought about it."

"We'll we've been together for a long time now, so I thought maybe you'd like to. We totally don't have to though. I just, like, kind of want to."

"Oh. Well, I don't know. I mean, I've never kissed anyone before. So I'm afraid I'd mess up."

"We can try and see what happens."

"Um...Okay, I guess."

That was it. For no reason whatsoever, she decided to commit herself to it. She had no idea what she was doing, and she was nervous as hell. Kyle suddenly leaned in towards her, and she didn't know what to do. So she leaned in towards him, mimicking what he was doing, closed her eyes and kissed him.

It was... Something. There was nothing there. She thought that it would feel different, feel good, but it didn't feel like anything at all. No sparks were flying, no racing of the heart, no desire for more. There was absolutely no emotion behind it. She felt nothing, and had no idea why. She was sure she was supposed to feel good about it, to enjoy it, but really didn't. A part of her kind of wished she hadn't done it at all.

Kyle seemed to think differently. He was smiling at her. For some reason, he looked like he really enjoyed it. All it was was a simple peck on the lips. Nothing more. But it seemed to mean something to him. Elsa just couldn't figure out why.

After a few minutes of mulling things over, Elsa began feeling very uncomfortable. "I'm sorry, Kyle, but I just remembered I have some homework to take care of. So I have to go. I'll Skype with you later, okay?"

"Oh, okay. Want to hang out tomorrow?"

"I don't know. Maybe. We'll see."

Grabbing her purse, Elsa hurried out of his house as quickly as she could. Once she was outside, she walked a little ways down the street before pulling out her phone and calling her mother to pick her up. There was too much on her mind, primarily why she didn't like it at all. Thinking it over some more, she realized that she actually disliked it. It made her feel very uncomfortable, and she didn't want to do it ever again.

Her mother picked her up about ten minutes later, and asked her why she wanted to go home so soon. Elsa just made up an excuse, telling her that she had a bunch of homework she forgot she had to do. She doubted her mother believed it, but Melissa didn't say anything. As soon as they were home, Elsa bolted for her room and closed the door.

Sitting down at her desk, she flipped open her laptop and opened up Skype. Luckily, all her friends were online. So she messaged Rose, telling her what had happened.

 _Frosty Soul: Rose, you're not going to believe what happened._

As soon as she hit send, she began to count down the seconds. It was a full minute before she got a response, and it was the longest minute of her life.

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Oh hey. What's up?_

 _Frosty Soul: I kissed Kyle._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: You did not._

 _Frosty Soul: Yes, I did._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: No way! So, how was it?_

 _Frosty Soul: I don't know. It wasn't anything like I had expected._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Is that a good thing?_

Elsa had to think about what she was going to say. Her friend was clearly excited for her, but she wasn't sure how to tell her how it really felt. Then she decided to just be blunt about it.

 _Frosty Soul: Honestly, I didn't care for it._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: What? Why?_

 _Frosty Soul: Because it didn't feel good. It didn't feel like anything. I just simply didn't enjoy it, and I really don't feel like doing it ever again._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Elsa, that sucks. So, how are things between you and Kyle now?_

 _Frosty Soul: He doesn't know yet. I left shortly after it happened. I kind of panicked. The weird thing is, it sort of made me realize that I have zero feelings for him. I mean, I like him as a friend, but I don't feel anything for him as a boyfriend. I think I'm going to have to break up with him. I just don't know how. I've never done this before._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Well, you should just be straightforward with him. Tell him you don't hate him, you just don't feel anything and the relationship isn't going to work out. That's what my sister just said anyway. Yes, she's reading this over my shoulder._

As if on cue, Kyle suddenly came online and sent her a message.She really didn't want to handle this right now.

 _BloodFang: Hey. How's the homework going?_

Panicking, Elsa sat and stared at the screen for several seconds before responding. All she could come up with was the lamest answer ever.

 _Frosty Soul: Fine._

 _BloodFang: Cool._

 _Frosty Soul: Yeah, I guess._

The conversation was going nowhere, and so she had to refocus on her messages with Rose.

 _Frosty Soul: Okay, he's online. Should I just tell him now?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Sure. I don't see why not. Just don't be a bitch._

 _Frosty Soul: When have I ever been a bitch?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Never, that's why I'm telling you not to be one. Don't start now._

Once again, Elsa had to switch back to her conversation with Kyle. It was already becoming tiresome. She didn't want to have to do this, but she didn't feel it was right to keep doing something she didn't like.

 _Frosty Soul: So, we need to talk._

 _BloodFang: Okay._

 _Frosty Soul: I don't know how to say this without sounding mean, but I don't think I can keep doing this. I didn't like the kiss, and it made me realize that I don't actually have any feelings for you. I still like you as a person and a friend, but I can't be your girlfriend anymore. It wouldn't be fair to either of us._

 _BloodFang: Oh. Well that sucks._

 _Frosty Soul: What, that's it? You're not going to get mad at me and call me names?_

 _BloodFang: No. Why would I do that? You don't want to be my girlfriend, so that's that. I knew you weren't comfortable with the whole thing anyway. I'm honestly surprised you waited this long._

 _Frosty Soul: Wait, you knew?_

 _BloodFang: Yeah. It was pretty obvious._

 _Frosty Soul: Oh. Well, I'm happy that you aren't upset with me. We can still hang out and stuff, I just think we'd be better as just friends._

 _BloodFang: Yeah, that sounds cool. I'll see you Monday at school then._

 _Frosty Soul: Yeah, okay._

Elsa let out a huge sigh of relief. It couldn't have gone any better. Now she was free to hang out with all her friends again. Why she had neglected them for so long she didn't know. There was a ball of guilt that had wedged itself in the pit of her stomach, and she needed to rid herself of it as fast as possible. The first thing she had to do was tell Micah she was sorry for how she had treated him.

 _Frosty Soul: Hey Micah. Can we talk?_

She waited and waited, praying he would answer. She knew that he was likely angry at her for how she'd been. It was as if he wasn't important to her anymore, and she had to set things right. After a couple of minutes passed, she was on the verge of giving up, when he finally messaged her back.

 _Raging Rajang: Oh hey. I guess we can talk._

 _Frosty Soul: Oh thank God. I thought you were ignoring me._

 _Raging Rajang: No, I don't do that to my friends._

 _Frosty Soul: Okay, I deserve that._

 _Raging Rajang: Gee, you think?_

 _Frosty Soul: Yes. I deserve that and more. I just want you to know that I am so damn sorry, Micah. I've been a really bad friend lately and I shouldn't have been. We've been close since kindergarten, and I basically ignored you for the last several months. We almost never hang out anymore, and I want to fix that._

 _Raging Rajang: Elsa, it's been like this since you got together with Kyle. All three of us have felt like you don't care anymore. Me especially. We're all a little pissed off at you._

 _Frosty Soul: I know you are. You should be. But I want you to know that I broke up with Kyle. I realized that I didn't feel anything for him. So we're done. I want to get back to being close with you again, like we used to be. I've missed you and I didn't even know it. Please, can you forgive me?_

 _Raging Rajang: … Yeah, I guess I can. I mean, it's gonna take a lot for everything to be back to normal between us. But I accept your implied apology._

 _Frost Soul: Thank you so much. So, as a way for me to make things up to you, would you like to stay the night? We can hang out and do whatever you want. Just the two of us. My mom and dad are going out for the night, and Anna is at a friend's house. I can go ask right now if you want to._

 _Raging Rajang: Sure, that'll be a start. Want me to bring over my laptop? We can play some Starcraft._

 _Frosty Soul: Sure. That would be awesome._

With the biggest smile she could possibly have on her face, Elsa got up and ran downstairs to ask her mother if Micah could stay the night. When she said yes, Elsa jumped up and down full of joy, ran back to her room, and started getting ready for the best night she had had in a long time.


	7. Chapter 7 - Secrets and Promises

**A/N: Welp, here is another interruption on my part. This chapter has some material that may or may not be a trigger for some of you. Nothing explicit, I can promise you that. But it's still a subject that is very serious. Child abuse of any kind is deplorable, and I most certainly do not condone it. Unfortunately, it was a necessary part of the plot for this story. It will shape how Elsa handles things in later chapters.**

 **Also, I wanted to mention something I had considered after posting the last several chapters, and it's something that a friend of mine brought to my attention. I ended up rushing through some of the school years more so than I had originally intended. I am not happy about how I handled it, but it's a little late for that. But I can promise you that, from here on out, the story's pace is much different, especially once 9th grade begins. It will be a much slower buildup. So please, stick with me.**

 **Anyway, please read on.**

 **Chapter 7**

 _Secrets and Promises_

January 8th, 2013. It was the beginning of the new year, and things seemed to be going well. Elsa had managed to patch things up with her friends, especially Micah, and they were right back to hanging out virtually every day they could. A lot of the time they were at Elsa's, typically playing some video game together or listening to some new rock band she had discovered. When it was just the girls, Rose would bring over a DVD of her favorite anime, and they would binge on the whole series. Other times, when it was just Micah or Kristoff, they'd just talk about nothing in particular.

Eighth grade was an interesting year. They were finally at the top of the middle school food chain, and somehow managed to share a lot of the same classes together. Elsa was still managing straight A's in all her classes, something she hadn't given up on since she was little. Now that she was fourteen, it meant a lot more to her to get good grades and stay at the top of her game. She was incredibly smart, too smart at times, and often helped tutor her friends when they started falling behind in their work. Micah especially had a difficult time with math and science. For whatever reason, it just wouldn't click with him. So, she focused extra hard on making sure he understood the material when they worked on homework together.

Things between her and Kyle went back to normal, thankfully, and they were just friends again. She didn't see him nearly as much, except for at school. She didn't mind though. They were never all that close. At least not like she was with the others. Yes, they had dated, and saw each other all the time, but she had only done that because she thought that was what you were supposed to do when you were with someone. Now, her mother would occasionally question her about him, and she'd just tell her that they have both been too busy. That always seemed like good enough of an answer for her.

It was Tuesday after school, and Elsa found herself sitting in Dr. Cohen's office again. Her visits were down to once a month, mainly because she didn't have much to talk about most of the time. They didn't always run the full hour she had, but they were at least somewhat calming when she left. It was therapeutic, which was the goal. She always felt a little bit better about herself after a session. Even though they didn't always accomplish much, it still helped.

Anymore, they mostly talked about her daily life. Marshall wasn't nearly as much of an issue as he used to be. He still harassed her on occasion, but now that she had friends that were willing to stand up for her, she didn't worry. Kristoff and Rose alone were enough to make him think twice, and even Micah had grown a bit more to where he was somewhat intimidating as well. In all, Elsa felt blessed to have the friends that she did. They were the best things in her life, with her sister being a close second.

Sitting in the office, Elsa was staring out of the one window that was there. It was raining outside, and it was incredibly chilly. It made the day kind of gloomy and gray, but she had come to like the rain, even in January. It was a nice sound to listen to at night when she was trying to sleep. It calmed her, helped her relax. It also helped take away the horrible memories that haunted her every chance they got.

"Elsa, are you feeling alright?" Dr. Cohen asked her, snapping her out of her daze.

"What? Oh, yeah. I'm sorry. I just like the rain."

Dr. Cohen gave her a slight smile, but it was genuine and comforting. "I kind of do as well. It's very soothing to listen to."

"Yeah, that's why I like it. It helps me sleep at night too."

"How is that going for you?"

"What, the sleeping? It's getting easier. I can actually get a few hours a night instead of just a couple. But the nightmares still come."

"And how is your medication treating you?"

"Fine, I guess. I don't feel like hurting myself anymore."

"Well that's good. How are things between you and your parents?"

"Pretty much the same. My mother acts oblivious to everything going on, and my father still treats me badly."

"How does he treat you badly now? The same as before?"

"Yeah. He still yells at me all the time, still makes me spend all my time in my room – which doesn't really bother me anymore – and just tells me everything is my fault. I don't even know what that means anymore."

"Is he still hurting you?"

"I really don't want to talk about that again."

"Elsa, I think it would be good for you to get that off your chest. To open up to me enough so I can help you through this."

"I've told you everything I can. He still hurts me, still tells me horrible things, and still calls me names. But he only does it when no one is around. He's smart about it. At least I've managed to stop him from doing it to Anna too."

"Can you tell me how he is hurting you?"

Letting out a tired sigh, Elsa propped up her arm and rested her head in her hand. "Like I've told you before, I can't talk about it. If I do, he'll do worse than he already has."

"You know that's not true."

"But it is. There is nothing anyone can do right now. Even when I turn eighteen, I can't move out because I won't leave Anna alone with him. So I have to stay and protect her."

"What makes you think he'll do anything to her if he hasn't already?"

"Because my father is sick in the head, and if I'm not there to deal with it, Anna will have to."

"What do you mean he's sick in the head?"

"Just the things he does to me. It's sick and wrong. Why do you think I'm here talking to you now? Because of how screwed up I am after nine years of this, maybe longer. I don't know about when I was little."

"Elsa, is he abusing you?"

"... I'm done with this topic. Can we please just move on?"

"I really want to get to the bottom of this."

"I'm sorry, but you can't. Not until Anna is old enough to move out with me."

"That is unfortunate. Elsa, I'm only trying to help."

"I know, but right now that is a subject that I don't want to get into any further."

"Okay. How are things with you and your friends?"

"They're good. Micah and I are back to being best friends. We're closer than ever. Kristoff and Rose are great friends too. Honestly, I feel blessed."

"What about Kyle?"

"We still talk and see each other at school. I don't know, I just haven't felt right since we kissed. Like I said, it didn't feel good to do it, and ever since then things have just been... Weird."

"How so?"

"Like there is this tension between us, that he resents me for breaking up with him. He said everything was good, but it doesn't feel like it."

"Have you thought that you might be projecting your own feelings onto him? That sometimes happens in these situations."

"Yeah, I guess," Elsa said with an exaggerated shrug for emphasis. "I mean, that is how I feel about it. Maybe he doesn't."

"I think that might be what is happening here. What about other prospective romances? There is still Micah."

"That will never happen. We're just friends. Besides, I doubt he sees me that way anyway. We've been buddies since kindergarten. He's like a brother to me, even though I have stronger feelings for him. But it doesn't matter."

"Have you considered telling him how you feel? He may be more receptive than you think."

"God no!" Elsa exclaimed, blushing brightly. "I can't do that! What if it pushes him away? What if he says he doesn't like me like that? What happens if we're no longer friends because of it? I can't go through that. I already pushed him away once when I started dating Kyle. Now that he's forgiven me, I can't ruin that. Besides, I almost slipped up back in sixth grade. Remember when we went to camp? I almost told him I love him. I can't risk it, not now."

"I think you should try. You never know what will come of it."

Elsa adamantly shook her head. "No. I am not taking a chance at ruining the best thing to ever happen to me. He is still the most important person in my life. If I lose him, I might as well be dead."

"Well, think about it. Okay? But unfortunately our time is up. I want to see you again soon. Perhaps sooner than normal. How does a couple weeks sound to you?"

"That sounds fine."

With that, Dr. Cohen walked Elsa back out to the lobby to where her mother waited for her. After she said her goodbyes, she and her mother got in the car and headed for home.

Elsa felt much better than she usually did after seeing Dr. Cohen. Normally she'd feel a little uplifted, but not enough to make her day go better. Today was different. Today she actually admitted that she loved Micah. Unfortunately, she could never tell him. There was too much at stake for her to do that. Too many years of friendship that would be flushed away if she came clean to him.

The car ride home was quiet. It always was. Her mother stopped asking questions a long time ago, because Elsa refused to talk to her about her sessions. She refused to talk to her about much. After so many years of neglect and ignorance on her mother's behalf, Elsa didn't feel that she deserved to know what was happening in her daughter's life. She believed that she was meant to suffer alone. Although she wasn't truly alone. Micah knew what was happening to her, and just like he promised, he hadn't told a soul. Nobody else knew. Dr. Cohen was coming close, and Elsa was desperately trying to tell her without telling her, but she was still terrified of what the repercussions would be once it was all laid out in the open.

When they got home, Elsa headed straight for her room and threw her backpack on her bed before plopping down in front of her laptop. She had finished all her homework at school, so her afternoon was pretty much free. Her friends weren't always so thoughtful in that regard; they usually didn't do anything until they got home. So she logged into Skype and Steam, then started browsing her favorite websites while she waited for everyone to get online. They had finally set up a group chat so they could all talk together, so it made things easier to communicate and organize get-togethers or a game of Team Fortress 2.

She sat there for half an hour waiting for someone to finally log on, but no one had. It was close to 4:30 pm, so her friends should have been done with their homework by now. Checking her phone for any missed messages, she saw she had one from Micah. It was sent nearly an hour ago, while she was still with Dr. Cohen. It was simple and quick, but kind of alarming.

 _Call me please._

It was a matter of seconds before she had his number dialed in and was calling him. She didn't want to panic, since it likely wasn't that big of a deal. He was probably just bored and wanted to talk. Or had a question about his homework. He did that a lot too.

As soon as it rang, the line was picked up. _"Hey, took you long enough."_

Elsa rolled her eyes, then remembered he couldn't see her. "I was with Dr. Cohen, remember?"

 _"Yeah, but you said you got out at 3:30. It's 4:30 now. Do you not check your phone?"_

"I don't live on it, Micah. Besides, we have Skype. I don't see why it's such a big deal-"

 _"My dad just got released from prison again, and wants to see me. My mom has a restraining order on him, but he's waiting outside on the street. She's not home, and I don't know what to do."_

"Oh my God. Okay, does he know you're home alone?"

 _"Yeah. He was shouting at my window and I looked outside to see who it was. I don't know what he's going to do."_

"Call the police. Now. Get off the phone with me and call them. You don't know what he's going to try and do. Your mom has a restraining order on him for a reason."

 _"Elsa, I don't know if I should be scared or not. I mean, he hasn't done anything yet."_

"Do you want to wait until he does? Micah, what if he kidnaps you? After all the stupid things he's done, I wouldn't be surprised if he tried. So please, call the police," Elsa begged desperately. "When you're done, call me back. Please."

 _"Yeah, okay. I'll do that. Um, what should I tell them?"_

"Exactly what you just told me. That your father is outside your house and he isn't supposed to be, and that there is a restraining order on him. They'll ask for your name and his, and they'll be able to look up that he does actually have one. They keep all of that stuff on record. Now hurry up, then call me back."

 _"Okay. I call back in a bit."_

With that, the line went dead. Elsa set her phone down on her desk and began to pace back and forth in her room. When her sister came and knocked on her door, it startled her out of her thoughts.

"Anna, Jesus Christ you scared me."

"Sorry. I heard you on the phone with Micah. Is everything okay?"

"I don't know yet. His dad got out of jail and is at his house. He's not supposed to be there."

Anna hummed to herself as she walked into the room and sat down on the bed. "So that's why you told him to call the cops."

"Yeah. Wait, were you eavesdropping?"

"No, dork. Your door is wide open. I was in my room doing homework. I could hear you pretty clearly."

Sighing, Elsa sat down beside her sister on the bed and fell backwards. "I'm worried about him. His dad has been gone for quite a while, and he wasn't very stable before. I can't imagine that he's gotten much better."

"Well, maybe there's nothing to worry about."

"Yeah, I hope not."

"So when are your friends coming over next?"

"I don't know, maybe this weekend. Why?"

"No reason. I just like them, that's all," Anna said with a dismissive shrug.

Just then, Elsa's phone began to ring. Springing up from the bed like a bolt of lightning, Elsa dashed to her desk and picked it up. "Micah? What happened?"

 _"They said they're sending someone over right now. I told them what happened and that I was a little scared, so they said an officer would be here in just a couple minutes."_

"Oh good. Just stay on the phone with me, okay? I want to make sure nothing happens to you."

 _"Yeah, okay. Um, I don't mean to change the subject, but how are you doing?"_

"Well, besides being scared out of my mind for you, I'm great. Why?"

 _"I mean, like, how are things with your dad. Is he still, you know... Doing that stuff?"_

Elsa fell quiet for several seconds. She didn't know how to answer that with Anna in the room. "Um, yeah. Not for a few days though. Saturday night was the last time," she said as quietly as she could and still be heard.

 _"Jesus, Elsa. Why don't you tell someone? He isn't supposed to be doing that stuff, and it's been happening more often lately."_

"I know," was all she said.

 _"Then what's holding you back? If you tell someone, he'll go to jail. What he's doing is illegal. You know all of this. You told me you did research on it."_

"I just can't. Not right now. Can we please change the subject? Right now is not the best time."

 _"Oh, Anna is there isn't she?"_

"Yes."

 _"I'm sorry. I'm just worried about you, and kind of scared for you. One last question, and that's it. Okay?"_

"Fine."

 _"Has he done anything more than just touch you?"_

"Thankfully, no. It's never gotten to that point."

 _"Okay, good. If it ever does, you're telling someone. You hear me? You cannot let that ever happen."_

"Okay. I swear, if it ever does, then I will. But I can barely handle it anymore. I might do that even sooner. I've come so close to telling Dr. Cohen. She already knows most of it."

 _"Good. When do you see her next?"_

"Two weeks from today."

 _"You're telling her then. I've had enough of watching this happen to you and not being able to do anything about it. So you're telling her everything. Promise me."_

"... Okay." She suddenly felt a lump in her throat.

 _"No, you have to say it, Elsa. Promise me!"_

"I swear to God that I will tell her. Okay? But I'm scared."

 _"I know you are. But if you don't do this, it'll just keep happening. And what if he moves on to Anna because nothing was done about it?"_

"Believe me, I've thought about that too, and I'm terrified. I have to make sure it never comes to that."

 _"Yeah. Okay, someone is knocking at my door. I'm gonna go make sure it's the police. I'll text you when I'm done."_

"Okay. Bye."

Then there was silence. Setting her phone back down on the desk next to her laptop, Elsa turned around and had completely forgotten Anna was even there. The look on Anna's face was very confusing.

"What the heck was that all about?"

"Um, nothing. Don't worry about it, okay? It's all stuff that you don't need to be concerned with."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive. Don't you have homework to finish?"

"No, I finished it before I came in. But I do hope everything is okay with Micah."

"Yeah, me too," Elsa said as she took a seat next to Anna again. "He said the police were there, so hopefully everything will be taken care of."

A few minutes later, she got a text on her phone. She knew instantly that it was from Micah.

 _Hey, it was the police. They said my dad ran as soon as they showed up. They're looking for him now. I'll be online in a short bit. I'm kind of waiting to see what happens. I also called my mom and she's on her way home. Talk to you in a bit._

With a sigh of relief, Elsa tossed her phone onto her nightstand, then flopped back down on her bed. She was worried about her friend for sure, but she was suddenly far more worried about her next visit with Dr. Cohen. The whole idea of seeing her in two weeks was scary. She had promised Micah that she would tell the therapist everything, and she intended to keep her promise. That's how dedicated to him she was. That's how she was with all three of her friends. They were that important to her. Except for the fact that she couldn't confide in Kristoff and Rose the same way she could with Micah. He was special.

00000

By the time Friday had finally come, Elsa was ready for the weekend. She had managed to talk her mother into having her friends all sleep over, and Anna was off staying the night at her friend's house. That's normally how it worked. She didn't ask her father for anything. In fact, she hadn't spoken to him in ages. When he asks her how she's doing, she simply shrugs and looks at him with cold, dead eyes. It's gotten to the point where he doesn't ask her anymore. She avoids him at all costs, and he doesn't put forth any effort to be involved in her life. Elsa preferred it this way. The less contact she had with him the better.

Her mother had taken her to the store so she and her friends could have snacks for the sleep over. They had three different kinds of soda, various kinds of candy – especially chocolate – and they had pizza ready to arrive around 7 pm. It was going to be a great night. They'd hang out in Elsa's room and watch movies or play games. She had it all planned out. They were all going to bring their laptops too so they could play some Starcraft 2.

By 6:30 pm everyone had arrived, the last of her friends showing up with gear in tow. They all headed to Elsa's room and made themselves comfortable either on her bed or the floor. They started off watching a movie, The Hunger Games, and then decided to play some PlayStation. The night was full of laughter and trash talking as they moved on to Starcraft 2 and decided to play head to head. It was the most fun they had had together in a long time.

At some point, Rose and Elsa ended up alone for a few minutes while the boys were busy getting more snacks. Turning to her friend, Rose gave Elsa a big, wicked grin. "So, I know about you and your thing for Micah."

Elsa was taking a drink of Pepsi when she choked, spewing it everywhere, with her eyes wide and bulging. "What!? How!?"

"Oh please, it's incredibly obvious."

"It is?" Elsa asked nervously as she wiped her mouth dry with the back of her hand.

"Yes. Totally. But it's okay. Your secret is safe with me. But I could easily hook you two up. It wouldn't be hard."

"Absolutely not. After Kyle, I am not trusting you with anything involving my love life ever again. Besides, he can never know. Ever. And you better swear that you will never tell a soul."

"Oh, I have no intention of telling anyone. I know you guys are super close, but I think you guys would make a great couple. But it's none of my business if you don't want it to be."

"I don't want it to be. He can not ever find out. Do you hear me?"

"Yeah, I hear you. I still think you're making a big mistake."

"What mistake?"

"Not telling Micah."

"Not telling me what?" said boy asked as he walked back in with Kristoff on his tail.

Elsa's face instantly burned a deep red. "Oh, um, nothing. Absolutely nothing. I swear. Okay?"

"Elsa, I don't believe you. What is it?"

"I said nothing. Now drop it."

"Does this have anything to do with that thing from camp?" he asked with a smirk.

"When are you going to let that go?"

"Probably never."

Elsa groaned loudly and rolled her eyes, then returned her attention to her laptop. After snacks were distributed to everyone, they returned to their game and resumed with the trash talking. They made sure to keep it PG just in case her parents were listening, but they got as close to toeing the line as they could. Eventually the game ended, with Kristoff as the winner. He had learned the game pretty quickly, and was a dominating force on the battlefield.

Their gaming went late into the night, and they didn't start to crash until nearly 1 am. The boys had the spare bedroom all to themselves, and didn't fall asleep for nearly another two hours as they were up talking. They had brought their sleeping bags over and decided to sleep on the floor since there was so much room.

"Hey, Micah," Kristoff said as he rolled over onto his side.

"Yeah?"

"When are you gonna tell her?"

Micah was quiet for a short bit. He didn't know what to say. The whole topic made him feel weird.

"I don't know. Probably never."

"That seems so stupid."

"What? Why?"

"Because man, you love the girl. Tell her," Kristoff urged him.

"Tell her what exactly?"

"How you feel. You told me what she does to you. Tell her that."

"Dude, I can't. Okay? There is no way. She won't feel the same way anyway. She'll probably laugh at me."

"Have you ever known Elsa to laugh at you?"

"Well, no..."

"Exactly. So man up and tell her."

"It's not that easy, Kristoff."

"Of course it is."

"No, it's not. Not with Elsa."

"Why's that?" Kristoff asked.

"Because, she's delicate," Micah said. "She's gone through a lot, things I am not allowed to talk about, and I am afraid of scaring her. If I come out and tell her how I feel, it could push her away for good. So I can't. At least not right now. Maybe someday. But it won't be for a long time."

"If you wait too long, someone else will swoop in and take her from you."

"I doubt that. She doesn't want a relationship at all. She's already told me that much."

"And you don't think she'd make an exception for you?"

"Hell no. We've been best friends forever. That's all she wants. I am not about to try and change that and lose everything."

"I think you're making a big mistake."

"How is it a mistake?"

"I just told you. You love Elsa. She is everything to you. Tell her how you feel. By not telling her, you are letting her slip through your fingers. That is the mistake."

"But I can't tell her. Okay? Not while she's stuck in the situation she's in."

"What's going on with her anyway?"

"I've sworn myself to secrecy. I can't tell you. Just know it is _really_ bad."

"Alright. Well, just remember what I said. You two should be together."

"I know what you said."

"Just promise me you'll tell her someday."

"Maybe someday."

00000

The next day, Elsa's friends were gone by noon. She spent a couple hours after they had left cleaning up after them and taking a shower. Anna still wasn't home from her friend's house, and probably wouldn't be for some time. So she kept herself busy with menial chores around the house.

The conversations from last night played on repeat in her head. She had actually admitted to Rose that she loved Micah. She wasn't quite sure how to feel about that. They had been friends for so long, she didn't even know when those feelings started to surface. But there they were, leaving her chest feeling tight and her heart beating rapidly. There was even a weird feeling in her stomach. It wasn't nausea. It was something different. A strange longing, a desire for Micah to be there right then. She realized that every time he left to go home it left a pang in her heart. Then the dread would soon follow. He was her safety net.

Once she was done cleaning, she was sitting at her desk when her mother knocked on the door and poked her head in. "I'm heading to the store. I'll be back in a bit. Anything you need?"

Elsa shook her head and barely looked away from her laptop. "No. I think I'm good. When is Anna supposed to come home?"

"I have to pick her up on the way back."

"Okay. Can you close my door on your way out?"

"Sure sweetheart."

As soon as her mother left, the horrible feeling she always got returned. He skin crawled and a shiver shot up her spine. It was always that way when she was left alone with her father. It didn't happen often, mostly because she tried to go everywhere with her mother, but when it did she tried to make herself invisible and silent. As long as he thought she was gone too, he wouldn't bother her. It worked sometimes. But not always.

She could hear her mother get in the car and start up the engine. Seconds later, she was gone. She was now officially alone with her father, who she prayed would just stay downstairs. As long as he stayed down there, she was sure things would be fine.

Her mother wasn't gone five minutes before Elsa heard the telltale sound of the floorboards creaking outside her door. Instantly she ran to the corner of her room, kept her back against the wall, and slid down to the floor with tears already beginning to drip down her pallid cheeks. She brought her knees up to her chest and hugged them tight.

There was a knock at the door, but she refused to answer. She hoped he'd think she was gone with her mother. She prayed that's what he would think. But her bedroom door slowly creaked open, and he stuck his head in to find her cowering in the corner. He had that strange look on his face. A weird smile that creeped her out, and a glaze to his eyes that meant he was thinking something wicked.

"How are you doing, sweetheart?" he said in sweet voice. "Can I come in?"

Shaking her head, the tears stained her face and just fell harder. "Please, no."

Without acknowledging her reaction, he let himself in and slowly closed the door. "Don't be like that, sugar. Daddy just wants to spend some quality time with his little girl."

"Please, just go away," Elsa begged as she shut her eyes tight.

"Now why would you say that to me? I thought we had something special." He was close to her now, and knelt down so he was closer to her level.

"No. Now please stop. I don't want to do this," she said through her sobbing.

Dale hummed to himself for a second, then brought a hand up to rest on Elsa's cheek. She flinched. "Oh, sure you do. I know I do. So why don't you get over there and start getting ready for daddy?"

He didn't wait for her to respond, but instead yanked her up by the arm and threw her at her bed. She hit the side of it pretty hard, having the air knocked out of her lungs. It hurt, but she was already crying so it made little difference.

Elsa did as she was instructed, even though she tried hard to fight it every step of the way. He made her strip down to her underwear as he started taking pictures with his phone, telling her how much of a good girl she was. She did her best to tune it out. Then he made her pose for him, and she hated it. When he told her to take the rest of her clothes off, she cried even harder. From what she could tell, he enjoyed the torture.

She was finally stripped down to nothing, standing there trying her best to cover herself up, though he wouldn't let her. That's when she heard something coming from the front room by the kitchen.

00000

Melissa hadn't made it very far. As soon as she pulled into the parking lot of the grocery store she realized that her wallet wasn't in her purse. Then she remembered she had left it on the counter in the kitchen at home. Frustrated with herself, she turned the key and started the engine back up, then sped off. On the way, she kept berating herself because she hated this sort of thing. She prided herself on always being prepared, and here she was forgetting the most important thing.

When she got back, the house was quiet. As soon as she walked through the front door, she noticed she couldn't hear the TV on downstairs. But she figured that just meant Dale was either in the backyard drinking a beer or messing around with something in the garage. That's what he usually did. If he wasn't sitting in front of the TV watching some macho show about cars or sports, he was busying himself with some useless task around the house. He was really only good for bringing home a good paycheck. His time spent with his daughters had waned over the years, and now she noticed he didn't have much of a relationship with either one. It frustrated her to no end.

As she walked up the stairs towards the kitchen, she heard some noise coming from down the hall. It sounded like Elsa was crying, and it made her incredibly curious as to why. Elsa was usually very quiet, and she rarely had any reason to be upset. So she decided to take a detour from the kitchen and check on her daughter to make sure everything was alright.

Normally she would knock in order to be courteous and respectful, since that is what she had taught the girls from a very young age. But Elsa sounded miserable, so she just helped herself in. What she wasn't expecting was the scene that was taking place behind the closed door.


	8. Chapter 8 - Never Again

**A/N: So, two things for this chapter.**

 **First thing, there are a couple triggers coming up. So be careful going forward. I should have put a warning at the beginning of the last chapter, but I forgot. I apologize profusely for that.**

 **Second, I have decided that Fridays will now be the official upload days, unless something comes up or there is a demand for me to change the schedule for some reason. Hopefully this will be okay with you guys. PM me if there are any issues regarding this.**

 **So please, be careful reading forward, though the trigger isn't much. As always, please enjoy.**

 **Chapter 8**

 _Never Again_

Time halted as if hitting a brick wall. Thoughts froze, and nobody moved a muscle. The only sound to be heard was the sobbing coming from Elsa, who was still standing there completely nude. She had been forced to bend over the bed to expose herself to her father, who had also exposed himself. The whole twisted scene was a system shock to Melissa, whose jaw hung as wide open as it could without being unhinged.

A couple seconds passed, then time resumed like a semi truck plowing through a congested highway. Emotions erupted, primarily rage, and then action took place. In a blur, Melissa ran towards Dale and began hitting him with her purse as hard as she could, screaming at him. He didn't have time to react, and with his pants down he stumbled and fell. Elsa backed away as far as she could, trying her best to cover herself. The tears were still coming, and her cheeks were wet.

"You sick son of a bitch! You stay the hell away from my daughter!" Melissa shrieked, still pummeling Dale with her purse and fists.

Dale didn't say anything, he just threw his hands up defensively and curled up into a ball. He knew he was in the wrong, and did nothing to excuse himself. He could barely move without being hit.

Seconds later, Melissa ran to Elsa, grabbed a blanket off her bed, wrapped her up, and ushered her out of the room as fast as she could. Before they were in the dining room Melissa had her phone out and she was dialing the police. As soon as the dispatcher answered, she was telling them what had happened as quickly as her mouth would move in a panic. Then she heard the front door open then slam closed.

Dale had bolted out of the house as quickly as he could, hopped in his truck, and sped off. There was smoke and the smell of burning rubber, and black tire marks down the driveway and street. Elsa had no idea where he was going. She was just happy that the sick bastard was gone. But the whole thing had worn her out, and her head hit the dinner table with a thud and she began bawling. Melissa was finally off the phone with the police, and sat and tried to comfort her daughter the best she could.

"Sweetheart, he's gone. He is never going to touch you again. I swear on my life that he won't," she tried to say as soothingly as possible. She was rubbing Elsa's back and tried to hug her, but Elsa shrugged her off.

"I tried to tell you! For years mom! But you would listen!" Elsa yelled through her sobs. "Dr. Cohen tried to warn you! Told you that something was wrong! But you refused to believe it!"

"I am so sorry, baby. I really am. I honestly didn't think your father would do such a thing," she tried to reason. Elsa wasn't buying it though.

"You never stopped him from yelling at me! For sending me to my room! For trying to punish me over nothing! Where the hell were you mom!?"

"I was right here. I didn't know. I just... I didn't know."

"That's a lie! Even Micah knew!"

"You wouldn't talk to me! You shut me out of your life! Elsa, why?"

"Because you wouldn't listen! Because you didn't care!"

"I have always cared, Elsa. I love you and your sister more than anything. You are my children."

"Whatever. You're lucky he didn't touch Anna too. I made sure it was just me. I've been protecting her for years."

"How long has this been going on? How long has he been doing... this?"

"Since before kindergarten."

Melissa didn't know what to say. Her daughter had been getting molested for at least nine years. Nine long, horrific years, and she had had no idea. She felt like a fool. How she could have never seen the signs was beyond her. But it all made sense. The depression, the isolation, the anxiety, the suicidal thoughts. All of it. It was no wonder her friends made her feel better. They were literally the only positive things in her life besides Anna. But it explained why she had such a hard time getting close to others. She even realized that the bullying was a serious thing too, and she had tuned it out. She never thought it was as bad as Elsa made it seem. Now she knew how wrong she was. Then she wondered what else was bothering her daughter that she was utterly blind to.

They didn't say anything for a little bit, and eventually there was a knock at the door. It was the police, and Melissa invited the officers in as soon as she opened the door. One of the officers stood with her on the landing by the door talking for a couple of minutes while his partner went to check on Elsa. He found her hunched over the table with her head resting on her arms, silently sobbing.

"Hey there kiddo, how are you doing?" the officer asked as nicely as possible, kneeling down in front of Elsa to get to eye level with her.

Elsa didn't say anything. The only acknowledgment she gave him was halfhearted shrug.

"Not good huh? Well, my name is Officer Adkins. What's your name?"

"Elsa," she said meekly.

"That's a pretty name, Elsa. Has anyone ever told you that before?"

"My friend Micah."

"Yeah? Are you pretty good friends with him?"

"He's my best friend."

"That's good. You should listen to him. He has good taste."

This actually managed to make Elsa smile a little, and she couldn't control it. A few moments later, her mother and the other officer finally came upstairs and entered the dining room. Her mother looked like she was in tears.

"This goofy lookin' guy with me is Officer Morris. He's actually like a big teddy bear. But now that your mom is here, we need to ask you a few important questions. Is that okay?"

Sitting up while still keeping herself covered, Elsa nodded her head and sniffled.

"Okay. If these questions get to be too embarrassing, just let us know, okay? Can you tell us what happened?"

Elsa hesitated for a second, looked at her mother for permission to talk, then proceeded to tell the officer what she could. "My mom went to the grocery store and left me home alone with my dad. After she left, he came up to my room and told me to get naked for him while he took pictures. He, um, pulled down his pants and started touching me... down there. He does it all the time and I hate it. I hate him. But I have to let him so he doesn't do it to Anna too."

"Is Anna your sister?" Officer Morris asks.

"Yeah. She's three years younger than me. She doesn't know. Nobody does, except for Micah."

"Okay. Can you tell me what happened afterwards?"

"My mom came home early and walked into my room and saw what was happening. She yelled and beat up my dad before calling you. Then he got in his truck and drove away."

"Well don't worry about that. We have people looking for him right now. He won't be hurting you anymore. Okay?"

Officer Adkins stood up and turned to Melissa, switching back to professional mode. "She's probably going to have to go down to the hospital and have a rape kit done. A detective should be here shortly to do pretty much the same thing we just did. Then he'll escort you and your daughter down to the ER for that kit."

"Do you really believe that's necessary?" Melissa asked nervously.

"It's standard procedure for sexual abuse and assault cases. We don't know if he has done anything more than touch her, and the detective will tell you the same thing. They should be here shortly to take over the case. We are going to stay here until he arrives just in case the father returns."

"I doubt he will. He knows he's in serious shit right now."

They ended up waiting about twenty minutes for the detective to arrive, who introduced himself as Detective Hall. Elsa thought he seemed nice, like the officers she spoke to earlier. Then they went through the whole process again, which wore out Elsa and her mother. Melissa had to call Anna's friend's mother to let her know what was happening and why she wouldn't be able to pick her up for a bit. Luckily, she was understanding.

The trip to the ER was the longest drive Elsa had ever taken. Everything was happening so quickly, and yet it felt like forever since it all started. She was overwhelmed already, and the fallout had just begun. None of her friends even knew what was happening, and she didn't know when she'd be able to speak to them next. She had told them that she'd be online and ready to play a game with them, and now she was a no-show. Hopefully that would tip them off that something was wrong. At least for Micah. He already worried every time she took more than five minutes to respond to his texts or Skype messages.

Everything at the ER happened just as quickly. Once she was walked in and given a room, she was instructed to strip down and put on a hospital gown. Being told to take her clothes off made her panic a little, but her mother managed to reassure her that everything was alright; nothing bad was about to happen to her.

Then the waiting started. She didn't know how long she was there, but it felt like an eternity was slowly slipping by as they just waited and waited for someone to check on them. Eventually the detect returned with a lady with brown hair in a white lab coat, and she was carrying a small black case in her hand. Setting the case down on a metal roll-away tray, she turned to Elsa and her mother and introduced herself.

"My name is Annabelle Houston, and I work for the city handling sexual abuse cases. This kit I have here will help us determine what kind of injury, if any, has occurred," the lady said.

"Will it hurt?" Elsa asked quietly.

"No, sweetheart, it won't. It might feel a little strange, but I promise there won't be any pain."

After Detective Hall excused himself, Annabelle opened up the kit and started pulling out things that Elsa didn't recognize. She did everything the woman told her to do, and it did end up feeling as weird as she said it would. It was incredibly embarrassing, but she understood that it was important for them to do this.

Once the lady was done, they waited a little bit more for the detective to return. When he did, he looked slightly relieved. He motioned for Melissa to step out into the hall with him.

"I have good and bad news. The good news is no rape has taken place. Everything is still the way it should be. The bad news is there is bruising and slight bleeding, probably from him being so rough with her. But again, no rape or intercourse of any kind."

This made Melissa breathe out in relief. "So in other words she's still a virgin."

"That is correct, yes."

"Thank God that sick bastard didn't go that far with her. Please tell me you guys are doing something about him."

"Officers Adkins and Morris have already informed you that we have people looking for him. The most I can tell you right now is that he will be caught. Typically, child molesters do not go far from where the incident took place. He's probably at a favorite hang out or something. But if you could tell me where he would likely go in this situation, or if you have any ideas at all, that would be very helpful."

"There's a bar we used to go to sometimes to play darts with a couple friends. Mike's Lounge."

"I know where that is. Is that somewhere he would likely go?"

"It's possible. He likes to go there and get drinks sometimes, especially after work. There's also his friend Brian. Shit, what's his last name... Hornbeck. Brian Hornbeck."

"Okay. I'll have the patrols check there as well. Please, call me if you hear from him or have any other ideas of where he could have gone. I will contact you the moment we have him in custody."

They were finally released to leave, and after Elsa got dressed they were driven home by an officer that had been standing by. The ride home went much faster, and Elsa felt incredibly relieved to be done with everything. At least for now. She didn't know how much more was going to happen, but she didn't care right now. All she wanted to do was get home, climb into bed, and sleep. It was already almost dinner time by the time they had left the hospital. She didn't feel like eating though. Her appetite was long gone.

Once they were home, the officer said that he would be keeping an eye on them until Dale was found and arrested. They both thanked him for the ride home and walked inside. As soon as they were in the door, Melissa pulled Elsa into very tight motherly hug. Elsa even decided to hug her back. They stood there for a long time embracing one another, both beginning to cry again.

Eventually, they broke the hug and Elsa excused herself to her room. Once inside, she decided to change into some pajamas and climb into bed. Her phone was sitting on her nightstand, and she almost ignored it until she saw that flashing light on it telling her she had missed calls or text messages. When she checked, she saw that all her friends had messaged her looking for her. They all sounded somewhat alarmed, and she had several from each one. So, she decided she had better answer them.

 _Guys, I'm fine. Get on Skype and we can talk._

She didn't bother waiting for any responses. Instead, she dragged herself out of bed and over to the computer. She almost wanted to wait until tomorrow, but she knew they were all worried about her. That's how her friends were. Kristoff and Rose knew something wasn't right about Elsa's home life, but they didn't know what. Micah did, and his texts were a little more concerned than the others'.

After booting up her laptop and logging into Skype, she saw that her friends were already waiting for her. All three of them asked her immediately if everything was okay. She told that things weren't okay, that she wasn't as fine as she wanted to be, and then proceeded to tell them everything. As she told them the story, she could tell that their intermittent responses were of shock and horror. She decided to tell them of everything from kindergarten on, and left nothing out. She didn't go into explicit detail on anything, but told them enough so that they knew how serious it was and how far back it went.

It felt liberating to finally come clean to her friends. To everyone, actually. It was like having this heavy weight lifted from her chest and shoulders. She felt clean. Refreshed. Alive for the first time in so long. As she finished with her story, her friends were all trying their best to console her, but she didn't really need that at the moment. Maybe later when she was lying in bed alone and worried that she'd have to go through more torment, but not right now. Right now she felt at peace. It did make her feel good that her friends were so concerned for her safety and happiness though.

After a bit, it hit her once more just how tired she was. So, she said her goodbyes to her friends, closed her laptop, and climbed back into bed. As soon as her head hit her pillow, her phone rang. Sighing, she rolled over and picked it up to see that it was Micah. She almost didn't answer it, but it was Micah and she couldn't do that to him.

"Hey," she answered.

 _"Hey. Are you going to be okay?"_

"Yeah, I think so. I mean, I'm really tired right now. But I'm kind of scared to go to sleep too."

 _"I can come over for a bit if you'd like."_

"I don't know, Micah. It's getting late and I just want to sleep."

 _"I don't have to. I just figured you would rather not be alone right now."_

He was right. She really didn't want to be alone. "Okay. I'll wait up for you."

 _"Cool. I'll be there in five minutes."_

He wasn't lying. He managed to make it in less than four minutes. When she answered the door, he was panting rather hard and almost doubled over.

"You weren't kidding."

"I told you," he said between breaths.

"Come on."

They headed back to her room and sat on the bed. Elsa had grabbed her favorite red dragon doll and cuddled with it. They didn't say anything for a couple minutes.

"Do you know where your dad is now?" Micah eventually asked.

"In hell, hopefully."

"Yeah, but I'm being serious."

"So am I."

"Where's your mom?"

"Downstairs I think. I don't know. She's probably on the phone with my aunt."

Without warning, Micah threw his arm around Elsa's shoulders and pulled her in for a hug. It felt nice, and she almost wanted to cry. But she didn't. She had done enough of that already.

"I've been worried sick about you. You know that, right?" he asked.

"Yeah, I know," Elsa replied with a nod. "I'm sorry. I've been so scared for so long."

"I know you have. I wish you would have told someone sooner."

"Me too. I hate myself so much right now."

"Why?"

"Because of what I let happen. I did it to protect Anna, but I wasn't thinking about myself at all. I am so screwed up Micah. I am so damaged, and I'll be this way the rest of my life. I don't know what to do." As hard as she tried, the tears started coming.

"None of that was your fault, Elsa. None of it. You hear me? What your dad did is god damn disgusting. He did all of his to you. But you are not screwed up. You are a great person. You are one of the kindest, smartest, most beautiful people I have ever known. I wouldn't give you up for anything. And I will not let you be depressed. We will get you through this. All of us will."

"I don't deserve you as a friend."

"Of course you do. Have I ever told you that you're the most important person in my life? Because you have said that to me several times."

"No. You've never said that. But do you really mean it?"

"Have I ever lied to you about anything before?"

"Well, no..."

"Then you have to believe me. I wouldn't tell you that if it wasn't true."

"Okay."

"So now what?" he asked.

"I don't know. I'm too scared to sleep, even though I'm so exhausted. I don't know what to do."

"Do you want me to stay the night with you?"

"... Yes."

"Okay. Let me run home and get a couple things. I'll sleep on the floor so you don't feel so alone. I'll be back in about fifteen minutes tops, alright?"

00000

The next day was interesting. Micah had slept on the floor of her room just like he said, and her mother didn't say a word. Normally, he wasn't allowed to, but Melissa made an exception. That morning, they were huddled around the table in the dining room eating some scrambled eggs and bacon that Elsa had cooked up. They were mostly quiet, and Elsa preferred it that way. There wasn't much to talk about anyway. Everything that needed to be said had already been said, so the silence was accepted graciously.

About noon, Melissa came upstairs and knocked on Elsa's bedroom door. She and Micah were playing a game on the PlayStation, and Pixel was perched on Elsa's shoulder just sniffing around.

"I have good news," Melissa said as she entered.

"Yeah? What's that?" Elsa asked, not taking her eyes off the TV screen.

"They found your father."

"What? Where?" The game was now paused and she was giving her mother her full attention.

"At some sleazy bar downtown. He apparently got so wasted he slept in his truck. They found him just an hour ago. So now, you have nothing to worry about. We won't have to see him ever again."

"We will someday."

"No, we won't. The detective said he's going to jail for awhile. They got enough evidence to convict him in court. He has to register as a sex offender, and we will have a lifetime restraining order on him. He will never hurt you again, sweet pea."

Elsa understood everything her mother just said, and felt a great relief wash over her. She was never again going to have to deal with her father. He was now going to be a terrible memory, and that was all. No more being his little plaything. There was finally going to be peace.

"Tomorrow I'm going to call Dr. Cohen's office and try to get you an emergency appointment. I think you really need it," Melissa said.

"Okay, mom. Can Micah stay the night again?"

"Elsa, you have school in the morning."

"So? We have most of the same classes together."

"I don't know. I guess if it's alright with his mother then sure."

"Thank you," Elsa said politely. She still hadn't really forgiven her mother, and probably wouldn't for quite some time.

After her mother left, they returned to their game. Elsa was happy, mostly because she knew Jenny would say yes. She knew Micah had told her everything, and if not him then her mother did for sure. So, she wasn't worried at all.

"I'm gonna have to run home and get my school stuff in a little bit," Micah said.

"I know. I can go with you."

"No, it's okay. You just stay here and rest."

"Micah, I'm fine. Really."

"Don't argue with me."

"But-"

"But nothing. You're staying here."

"That's not fair at all."

"Too bad. Oh, I'm gonna grab my laptop too so we can chat with Rose and Kristoff."

"Fine."

Soon he was gone, and Elsa was left all alone. She decided to pull out her diary and write in it while she waited. She made sure to get every detail she could in there, no matter how terrible and embarrassing it was. It was her way to vent and get her thoughts out of her head. Most of the time, it helped. There were still somethings that clung onto her mind no matter how hard she tried, but it was much better with her little blue book.

She waited quite a while for him to return, and after nearly thirty minutes she decided to hop onto Skype and see if he was online. Much to her disappointment, he was not. But Kristoff and Rose were, and they both messaged her the instant she went online.

 _Mikasa Ackerman: How are you doing today? Are you alright?_

 _Frosty Soul: Yeah, I'm okay. Just overwhelmed._

 _Dominator: Are you sure? After everything that happened we just want to know that you're okay._

 _Frosty Soul: Yeah, I'm sure. Micah stayed the night, so I was alright. It helped having him here. I didn't have the nightmares I normally have._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Wait, Micah stayed the night? Do tell._

 _Dominator: How come we weren't invited?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Really Kristoff? After what she went through you think she wanted us there?_

 _Dominator: Well, I mean, Micah was there. Why not us?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Because, Micah gets special treatment._

 _Frosty Soul: Okay, hold on there._

 _Dominator: It's true, Elsa. Don't act like it's not._

 _Frosty Soul: Please, stop. It's not like that at all._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Of course it is. And it should be._

 _Dominator: Wait, what does that mean?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: It means nothing. Don't worry about it._

 _Frosty Soul: Can we please not do this?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Yeah, sorry. Is he still there?_

 _Frosty Soul: No he went home to get his stuff for school tomorrow._

 _Dominator: Why?_

 _Frosty Soul: ...He's staying the night again._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: You go girl!_

 _Dominator: Why are you cheering her on?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: I told you it's nothing. It's girl stuff. Don't worry about it._

 _Dominator: Whatever._

 _Frosty Soul: Anyway, change of subject please. He's getting his laptop, so we can play a game or something when he gets here._

 _Dominator: Yeah, that sounds cool. Is Anna home too?_

 _Frosty Soul: She's still at Bree's house. I think my mom is picking her up soon._

 _Dominator: Oh._

 _Frosty Soul: Why?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Because he likes your sister._

 _Frosty Soul: I thought you guys all liked Anna._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: That's not what I meant, Elsa. He 'likes' her._

 _Dominator: Rose, shut your mouth._

 _Frosty Soul: Oh. OH. Okay, um, well, yeah..._

 _Dominator: Damn it. Thanks Rose._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: You're welcome, sweetie._

 _Frosty Soul: You actually like my sister like that?_

 _Dominator: I am not commenting on that any further._

Just then, there was a knock at the front door, and Elsa could hear her mother answer it.

 _Frosty Soul: I'll be right back. Micah is here._

She excused herself from the computer and headed down the hall to greet her friend. Micah was talking with Melissa quietly, who gave him a hug and told him to head upstairs. When he saw Elsa he smiled, and as he got to the top of he stairs she practically tackled him into a hug. He had a surprised look on his face when she let go.

"Holy crap, you haven't done that since we were little."

Elsa was blushing, but had a toothy grin on her face. "I know. I just felt that you deserved a hug. I mean, you being here is really helping me a lot."

"Well good. That was the point. Oh, my mom wants you to know that you can call her and talk to her at any time, day or night. She wants to make sure you're alright. Same goes for me. You ever need anything, or have a nightmare, or just feel lonely, you call me."

"Okay. Thank you."

"Now why don't we go kick Kristoff and Rose's butts at some Starcraft?"

00000

School was weird for awhile. Even though she knew that nobody was aware of what happened, she still felt their eyes on her. There was some overwhelming presence bearing down on her, but she couldn't figure out what it was. Her father was locked up, and would likely be for a long time. Everything between her and her friends was great. They were all extremely understanding and supportive. It was heartwarming knowing that she could confide in them with damn near anything. She didn't have to hide anymore, which removed so much stress from her that her body was returning to some semblance of normalcy. No more constant nausea, no more headaches, no more feeling drained. She felt good. Her sleep was still screwy, but Dr. Cohen was helping her with that as well. Still, she couldn't explain the feeling of all eyes being on her.

That was another thing that had improved. Her most recent visit with Dr. Cohen was liberating now that she didn't have to keep her dark secrets to herself. She was able to lay bare everything, from the abuse when she was little to the nightmares it still caused her. Everything was out in the open now and it felt great.

It was Tuesday, nearly a month passed since the day her father was caught. Elsa was sitting in her favorite leather chair in Dr. Cohen's office, drinking some tea that the therapist had offered her. It was still incredibly cold outside, so the hot drink warmed her right up. She was in a good mood. A great mood, actually. Everything since that day had gone so well.

Sitting in the chair across from her, as always, was Dr. Cohen with her notepad and clipboard. Her legs were crossed, and she was scribbling in her little book like usual.

"So, Elsa, tell me how you're feeling today."

Elsa was blowing on her tea to cool it down, but was smiling. "I'm actually really good. Ever since my dad was caught and thrown in jail life has been good. I don't fear being at home anymore. I can be myself and not have to worry about getting in trouble for stupid things. I'm still having the nightmares almost every night, but I'm good otherwise."

"That's fantastic to hear. What about going downstairs?"

"I... still can't. It hurts too much to try. My mom knows why now though. She knows that's where he would take me in the middle of the night a lot of the time and do all those things to me. I don't know if I'll ever be able to. My room isn't so bad since it's still my safe place, even though he did stuff there too. But, I can go as far as my mom's office at least."

"That's good. Baby steps, Elsa."

"Yeah, that's what I keep trying to tell myself."

"How are things between you and your friends?"

"They've never been better! Rose and I get to have a lot of girl time now, Kristoff and I went to the mall and hung out for a bit – that is something new that I can do now – and Micah and I are closer than ever."

"Tell me about that."

"About Micah? Oh. Well, he's still the one person I can rely on more than anyone. Whenever I have a problem or I'm upset, I call him and he's instantly there. If I have a nightmare in the middle of the night, he's there to calm me down and help me back to sleep. I'm blessed to have him in my life."

"I believe so too. But what about your feelings for him?"

Elsa stopped to think about the question for a second. She really hadn't thought about that stuff much since everything happened. Her brain didn't really give her time.

"Honestly, I don't know. I feel so confused sometimes. Like, we are best friends. Always have been. But I love him so much that it hurts. I want to tell him so badly, but I still can't. I chicken out every time I have a chance to. I'm too afraid of losing him. I know he doesn't think of me the same way. He can't. If he did, he would have told me by now. So, I don't think I'll ever tell him. It would just be too awkward, and make our relationship so different. I don't know if I could handle that."

"How do you know for sure that he doesn't feel that way about you? As close as you two are and have always been, I find it hard to believe that he doesn't have those feelings too."

"Like I said, if he did feel that way he would have told me already. That's how he is. He holds nothing back from me, just like I don't with him."

"Except for your feelings for him."

"... Right."

"So is it safe to assume that perhaps he is doing the same thing you are?"

"I doubt it. He doesn't think that way. He's too straightforward to hide things from me. I've always been the secretive one. Until recently that is."

Dr. Cohen hummed to herself while she started writing something down. Then she looked back up and had an eyebrow quirked upwards. "What about Marshall. You haven't talked about him much lately."

"I hardly see him anymore. He's in two of my classes, but doesn't sit anywhere near me. And in both classes I have either Rose or Kristoff and Micah there to look out for me. I think Rose scares him the most."

"It's good to hear that your friends are there to support you. How are you feeling with the medication you're on?"

"I feel fine. My depression isn't as bad, though I still have my moments. When I have those I call up one of my friends and talk to them. They always manage to snap me out of it."

"I'm so happy to hear that, Elsa. It sounds like things are finally going right for you."

"They are. I couldn't be happier right now."

"Good. Now, I know you start high school this year. Are you looking forward to that?"

"I think so. I mean, I'm a little scared of it, but I think that's normal. But my grades are still straight A's, so I'm not worried about what classes I'll have to take. I think the school counselor said something about being placed in honors and 'AP' classes, but I don't know what that means. I didn't think to ask her either."

"It stands for 'Advanced Placement'. It's essentially more difficult material for the kids that are considered capable of handling the workload. It usually means more homework, and a bit faster pace. But you are a very smart girl, Elsa. I see no reason why you wouldn't be able to handle that."

"I'm pretty sure I could. But I'm worried about my friends, especially Micah. He struggles so much with math and science. I'm afraid he'll fall behind and I won't be able to help him as much."

"Well, perhaps he can find a tutor."

"I am his tutor. Have been since sixth grade. I know the best way to teach him. He says he likes how I help him. That I explain everything better than the teachers do."

"Then I hope you find a way to keep helping him. It sounds like you are a little important to his education."

"Maybe. I don't want to see him fail."

"I doubt he will with you as his friend."

"Plus there is Rose, who isn't very good with English. She struggles with a lot of the different rules for writing. But she knows how to spell well, and she knows the difference between like-sounding words. Then there's Kristoff, who doesn't really struggle that much with anything, but every now and then I have to help him with something. But he's usually pretty good otherwise. Micah is the only one I'm really worried about."

"Well I hope things work out for you. How about romantic interests besides Micah. Are there any?"

"Oh God no. I have zero desire to date anyone ever again if it isn't Micah. So that means I'm going to be single for a very long time."

After a little more pointless chatter, time was up and Elsa was escorted to the door and out into the lobby where she said her goodbyes. Her mother was waiting for her like usual, reading some boring magazine that didn't interest Elsa in the slightest. She never got into all that feminine stuff like most of the other girls her age did. Her girly stage ended with first grade. Sure, she still had her stuffed animals – especially her red dragon, Alrick – but that was about it.

As they climbed into the car to head home, Elsa thought about the one thing that really stuck out to her. Her feelings for Micah were getting stronger, and she didn't know what to do. There was no way she could ever come clean to him. That much she was certain of. There was zero chance that she would ever tell the love her life how she truly felt.


	9. Chapter 9 - Summer Fun

**Chapter 9**

 _Summer Fun_

June 19th, 2013. It was the start of summer, and everyone was enjoying their vacation from school. The group had been hanging out practically every day, mostly at Elsa's house since she still had that above ground pool they had purchased years ago. Her mom had decided to invite everyone over for a barbecue, and the kids were hanging out in the cool water of the pool. They were having so much fun that they didn't pay any attention to the passage of time; they had been out playing all day.

Elsa was still recovering from what happened with her father all those months ago. The nightmares were as bad as ever, and she wasn't sleeping much at all. It was actually getting worse, and she had no idea why. Her dreams mostly consisted of her father standing over her and telling her to strip for him and doing things that she would rather not think about. Sometimes they were about the beatings she would get from him as well. There were never any marks left on her that were visible, but it hurt like hell every time. She wondered all the time why her father treated her the way he did. There didn't seem to be any actual reason why he did what he did.

Dr. Cohen had begun helping her at least realize that she did nothing to deserve it. It was starting to get through to her, but it was still going to take a long time. Much like the nightmares. She had no idea how long that would take. Possibly a lifetime. The depression was still there, but it was manageable, and the loneliness and isolation was getting better. She had her friends to help remedy that, but the times that they couldn't be there were torturous. Luckily, Anna was there to fill in the gap.

Her and Anna had become much closer after the fallout with what happened in January. When Anna learned what Elsa had been going through, and the reason she chose to suffer for so long in silence, she was devastated. Her heart broke into pieces the moment she heard the story. She loved her older sister dearly, and that only became more obvious afterwards. Now, whenever Elsa was home alone, or her friends weren't there, Anna made sure to be there to keep her company. It warmed Elsa's heart, and she thanked God himself for being so lucky to have the support that she did from everyone.

Once dinner was done and the kids were called to eat, they gathered around the outdoor picnic table that was on the back deck. It was crowded with everyone there, but they managed. They discussed all the things they wanted to do during the summer, and how they planned on getting ready for high school. All of them were a little nervous about it. Except for Rose. For some reason, that girl was fearless. She was something of a role model to Elsa as far as that went. Rose could get up in front of a crowd of people and talk about anything without getting nervous. Elsa, on the other hand, hated doing reports for school. Any project that required her to get in front of the class to speak terrified her. But she always managed to do it.

After everyone sucked down their burgers and hotdogs, they took turns getting dressed before heading to Elsa's room to hang out. They mostly just sat and talked, making more plans for the summer. Elsa decided she was going to have another sleep over with everyone as soon as possible. They all had recently gotten 3DSes and the new Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate to play. It was Micah's favorite game series, and he wanted to share the experience with his friends. So, he talked them all into getting it. Elsa had seen him play it before, so she kind of new what to expect.

They hung out for quite a while before everyone had to start heading home. It was getting late, and Elsa decided that she'd turn in early for the night. Normally she'd stay up until 1 or 2 am, but she was so exhausted from hanging out in the pool that she really didn't feel up to it. So, she chose to shower, get into her most comfortable pajamas, and crawl under the blankets on her bed, making sure to grab her little red dragon in the process. She didn't have her father to fear any longer, so she was able rest easier than she ever used to before.

As she was settling in for the night, Anna knocked on the door and helped herself in. Elsa had grown used to her lack of privacy when it came to her sister, and didn't let it bother her anymore. When Anna crossed the room and sat down at the foot of the bed, Elsa tried to act like she wasn't being inconvenienced in any way. She had no idea if she was successful or not.

"What's up?" she asked as nicely as possible.

"Nothin' really. Just wanted to see how you were doing."

For some reason, this made Elsa smile a little. Her sister's concern was appreciated. "I'm okay. Just getting ready for bed. You probably should be too."

"I'm not tired yet. Plus I'm waiting for the others to get online. They're going to teach me some new strategies for Starcraft. I think I'm getting the hang of it now. Maybe soon I'll be able to keep up with you guys."

"How come you don't play with any of your friends?"

"Are you kidding? My friends are boring. That's why I hardly hang out with them."

This made Elsa giggle and roll her eyes at her sister. "Well, you're lucky my friends like you."

"Yeah, I know," Anna said with a grin. "Are you sure you don't want to play with us? It'd be really cool if you did."

"Yeah, I'm sure. I'm exhausted and just want to sleep, even if I'll only get a couple hours."

"I wish I could help you with that, Elsa. I don't like you having those nightmares."

"It's okay," Elsa reassured her. "Nobody can help me right now. It's just something that I'm going to have to work through."

"Do you want me to get you anything before I go? A glass of water or something?" Anna asked.

"No, I'm fine Anna. Really. You don't have to worry."

"I'm just trying to help."

"I know you are, and I greatly appreciate it. But I'm fine. I'm going to pass out soon, hopefully."

"Okay. You try to have a good night. If you have any problems, I'm right next door."

With that, Anna got up, hugged her sister goodnight, and headed back to her room to get ready to play with the others. Elsa tried to sink as deep into her bed as possible, clutching onto her little red dragon as hard as she could. It made her feel safe when no one else was there. Always had. She liked to think that it kept the nightmares away for a little while.

Eventually, sleep did finally come. At first it was dreamless, just black and comforting. When the dreams did finally come, they were mostly of her spending time with Micah. It was always something mundane that they were doing together, such as watching a movie or going somewhere to eat, but it was always a happy time for her. But they always ended horrifically, usually with her father coming into the picture. She hated thinking about that, hated what happened in those parts of her dreams, and always did her best to forget them.

After a few hours of sleep, a particularly terrifying nightmare caused her to bolt upright in bed, covered in sweat and her heart racing. It took her several seconds to realize she was back in her room and that she was safe. Once she had calmed herself, she considered going to Anna's room and seeing if she was still awake, but thought better of it. She didn't need to burden her sister with this. Anna was already worried sick for her as it was, she didn't want to add to that. So, instead she reached over for her phone on the nightstand and dialed Micah's number. He had told her already that she could call him anytime she needed to. This was one of those times.

The phone rang several times, and she almost decided to give up when Micah's voice answered on the other end. _"Hey Els. You doing okay?"_

"No, not really."

 _"Another nightmare?"_

"Yeah."

 _"Do you want to talk about it?"_

"Um, yeah, actually. We, uh, we were sitting in my room talking and watching a movie – I don't remember which one – when my dad kicked the door down. He kicked you and threw you out into the hall where you just sort of disappeared, then he, um, he..."

 _"You don't have to finish, Elsa."_

"Okay."

 _"Do you want me to come over?"_

"I do, but it's 1:30 am. It's a little late, and I'm pretty sure everyone is asleep."

 _"Alright, if you're sure."_

"I'm not sure."

 _"Okay, I'll be over in about ten minutes."_

The call ended and she placed her phone back on her nightstand, got up out of bed, and stretched. She knew she wasn't going to get anymore sleep that night, and considered going and making some coffee. That was something she had started doing towards the end of the school year. Her mother wasn't sure about it at first, but decided that Elsa was responsible enough to handle it.

Micah's telltale knock came about ten minutes later, just like he had said. Elsa was in the middle of brewing some coffee for them when he entered the kitchen. He had been given a key by Melissa a few months ago, shortly after the incident with Dale. Grabbing her by the arm, he pulled her into a gentle hug, and she rested her head on his shoulder and sighed.

"You doing okay?" he asked as he gently rubbed a hand down her back.

"Yeah, I think so. I'm feeling a little better now," she said.

"What are we going to do about these nightmares, Els? You can't keep doing this."

"I know. They're not as bad when you're here though."

"Yeah, but I can't always be here. I don't think either of our moms would like that."

"I could easily talk my mom into it."

"Elsa, it isn't going to happen, no matter how much either of us want it to."

"Wait, you want to be here all the time?" she asked.

This caught Micah off guard, and he started to blush. He started rubbing the back of his neck as he tried to figure out what to say. "Well, I mean, uh, I like spending my time with you. We wouldn't be best friends if we didn't."

"I guess."

"Why don't you tell me what's on your mind."

"I'm sorry for dragging you over here."

"Don't you dare apologize for that. Ever. I will always make time for you, no matter what."

"Like I've said before, I don't deserve you as a friend."

"Of course you do," Micah assured her.

"I don't feel like I do."

"How many times do I have to tell you how great of a person you are? You're beautiful, smart, caring, funny when you want to be, and all around amazing. Any guy would be lucky to be with you."

 _If only that guy was you._ "I don't want to be with anyone. I'm not ever making that mistake again. No one should be stuck dealing with me and my issues."

"I don't think your issues are that big of a deal to be with."

"What do you mean?" Elsa asked.

"Uh, I mean, well, that your problems don't bother me. I'm just concerned for you."

"Oh."

"So what now?" Micah asked, desperately trying to change the subject.

"I don't know. I'm not going to be able to go back to sleep anytime soon. I'm afraid of having another nightmare."

"Well, we can just hang out."

"Micah, you have got to be exhausted. I know you haven't been to sleep yet."

"So?" he said with a shrug.

"Come here," Elsa said as she took his hand and dragged him down the hall to her room.

Once back in her room, she motioned for him to take a seat on her bed. Then she set to work pushing all of her stuffed animals out of the way, mostly tossing them into the corner of her room. Once she was done, she pointed at him then pointed at the bed, indicating for him to lay down.

"Elsa, what the hell are you doing?"

"I'm making you get some sleep."

"I'm not tired."

"Don't lie to me. I can see it in your eyes. Now lay down."

"And what about you?"

"I haven't decided what I'm going to do. Probably just hop on the computer and browse my websites."

"What was the point of me coming over if I'm just going to crash while you stay up?"

"...I don't know. I just wanted you here," she said with a blush. She was glad the room was dimly lit.

"Just tell me what is going on."

"Okay, fine. I feel better with you here," Elsa admitted. "You make me feel...safe. Like I don't have to worry about anything for awhile. Kristoff and Rose don't do that for me like you do."

"Then why don't we just stay up and talk?"

"Because I want you to get some sleep."

"That doesn't make any sense," Micah said, sounding confused.

"It doesn't have to. Just please do this for me."

"Fine, but only if you come lay down and try to get some sleep too."

"How am I going to do that if you're on my bed?"

"I can scoot over. There's plenty of room." As if to demonstrate, he waved his hand over her spot on the bed, showing there was lots of space left.

"I don't know... I don't think my mom would like that."

"Why?"

"I don't know. That's just how she is."

"But I've slept in here plenty of times."

"I know. You know what? I don't care tonight."

"Okay. Now get your ass in bed so we can go to sleep. I'm actually starting to get tired now."

00000

The next morning, the sunlight was peaking in through the curtain that was hanging over Elsa's bedroom window. The light was hitting her right in the face, and eventually woke her up. When she opened her eyes, she was incredibly groggy, and didn't realize that she was laying cuddled up next to Micah with an arm draped over his chest. After she finally woke up enough to realize it, she panicked. She didn't want him to wake up like that and think she was being weird, but at the same time she really enjoyed it. Maybe if she pretended to be asleep he wouldn't say anything when he woke up. He wasn't a heavy sleeper, so she was afraid moving would wake him up.

Eventually, he did stir. When he woke up more, he looked down to see Elsa trying hard to pretend to be asleep. He didn't mind at all that she was cuddling with him. He rather liked it. But she could never know that. Not wanting to get her in trouble with her mother, he shook her until she pretended to wake up. When she opened her eyes, she feigned shock and embarrassment, praying that he wouldn't notice.

"I am so sorry Micah. I didn't mean to-"

"Elsa, it's fine. If it helped you sleep, then I'm okay with it."

Blushing, Elsa looked away from him and tried staring at the wall instead. "It did, actually. A lot. I must have got about six hours of sleep last night. That's the most I've had in a long time."

"Good. Glad I could be of service."

"I wish you could just live here."

"We both know that will never happen."

"I know. Maybe for the summer?" Elsa asked, knowing full well that that wouldn't happen.

"I doubt that would fly with our moms."

"Probably not. It's not fair though."

"Yeah, I know. To be honest, that was the most peaceful sleep I've had in a while too. Kind of weird, isn't it?"

"Yeah, weird," Elsa said with a fake little laugh.

"Well, I'm hungry. Let's go get something to eat."

They decided to raid the kitchen and eat just about whatever they could find. They weren't picky. Elsa ended up with a bowl of cereal while Micah helped himself to some leftovers from the barbecue the day before. It wasn't remotely healthy, but he was fourteen and didn't care. He even ate the food cold because he was too lazy to heat it up. Elsa couldn't figure out why he would do that, or how he could stomach it that way.

While they were eating, Melissa came out to the kitchen to make some coffee. When she saw that there was a pot already made from in the middle of the night, she immediately knew that Elsa had been up with more nightmares. Pouring herself a cup and sticking it in the microwave to heat it back up, she suddenly heard Micah's voice coming from the dining room. Curious, she went to investigate, only to see the boy sitting across from Elsa eating a cold burger patty.

"And when did you get here?" Melissa said with a grin.

Both kids froze for a second, then Elsa turned around in her seat to look at her mother. "He sort of came over after I called him about my nightmare. Then he sort of fell asleep in my room. But it helped me get back to sleep! I got about six hours of sleep last night. That's double what I normally get."

"That's good to hear sweetheart, but don't you think his mother is going to wonder where he is?"

"Oh, she knows. I told her when I was getting ready to come over," Micah assured her.

"Of course you did. Well, I guess I can't be mad. Just try not to wake Anna up, okay?"

"Will do, mom," Elsa said.

With that, Melissa grabbed her coffee and headed downstairs. Elsa and Micah decided to head back to her room to play some video games while waiting for their friends to come online. They mostly just laid around and relaxed, not really talking but enjoying each others company. It was a couple hours before anyone hopped online, and the first one to show up was Rose. Micah was busy playing a game on the TV while Elsa was on her laptop when she got a message over Skype.

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Hey Els. Good morning sunshine! Have anymore of those nightmares?_

 _Frosty Soul: Hey. Yeah, I did. But everything is okay now._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: That's good. Did you at least get some sleep? I know you have trouble with that._

 _Frosty Soul: Yeah, I actually got a lot more sleep than normal. Micah helped me with that._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Oh? Do tell._

 _Frosty Soul: It's nothing really. He came over last night and stayed the night._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: I see._

 _Frosty Soul: It's not like that._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: I didn't say anything._

 _Frosty Soul: I know you, Rose. You were thinking it._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: I don't know what you're talking about._

 _Frosty Soul: You are a terrible liar._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Fine. Then what happened?_

 _Frosty Soul: Nothing. We slept. That's it._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Girl, I am going to slap you._

 _Frosty Soul: Why?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Because you had him there all to yourself and you did nothing. You need to stop being such a chicken and tell him already._

"Tell me what?" Micah asked, startling Elsa.

Quickly, Elsa slammed her laptop shut and turned a deep red, turned around, and punched him in the arm. "You jerk! Don't do that! And why are you reading over my shoulder anyway?"

"I was just curious to see who you were talking to. But seriously, what is going on?"

"It is none of your business, Micah. It's private girl stuff. And no, I am never going to tell you. So don't even think about begging me."

"Jesus, alright. I'm sorry for interrupting. Just tell Rose I said hi."

Rolling her eyes at him, she waited for him to sit back down before opening her laptop back up. When she did, she had a couple more messages from Rose.

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Hello?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Why did you just go offline?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: I'm sorry if I upset you._

 _Frosty Soul: Sorry, you didn't. I had someone trying to read over my shoulder. But he's been put in his place now._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Oh thank God. Did I embarrass you?_

 _Frosty Soul: No more than usual._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Oh okay. So seriously, tell him Elsa. I know it's eating you alive. You've told me so. You will feel so much better if you do. And I am almost positive he feels the same way. Otherwise he wouldn't spend all of his time with you._

 _Frosty Soul: I told you I am not going to do that. I cannot take that risk. If I lose him as a friend, I don't think I could handle things anymore._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: This is exactly what I'm talking about, Elsa. My God you are so damn stubborn. What is it going to take to get you to tell him?_

 _Frosty Soul: Nothing will ever make me tell him. I want him to be happy with someone of his choice. I don't want to push myself onto him. Like I've told you countless times, we are best friends. He is my buddy. Has been since we were six. These feelings are one-sided, that much I can promise._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: But you don't know that._

 _Frosty Soul: Maybe not. Maybe I'm completely wrong and he does love me. But I am never going to find out because I am never going to take that risk and ruin what we have._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Elsa, I feel so sorry for you. I so want to see you happy, and I know you would be happy with him. There's no question about it. I just wish I understood why you are so sure that it would ruin things._

 _Frosty Soul: It would make things incredibly awkward. They would never be the same again. It's possible that it'd scare him away. How do you think I could live if that happened?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Yeah, IF. You don't know for sure. It could work out perfectly for you two._

 _Frosty Soul: I just know that I'm much happier with how things are now than the possibility of ruining everything. I'm happy now. Why try and change it?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Because it is killing you, Elsa._

 _Frosty Soul: I'll live. Change of subject now, please._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: You're making a big mistake._

 _Frosty Soul: So you've said._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Anyway, do you guys want to play something?_

 _Frosty Soul: He doesn't have his laptop with him._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Oh. Well, he only lives right around the corner from you. He could run and get it._

 _Frosty Soul: He's busy playing Far Cry 3 on the PlayStation right now. But I can ask him._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Nah, it's alright. Kristoff isn't online right now anyway. Oh, how come you haven't told him how you feel about Micah?_

 _Frosty Soul: Because I know for a fact that he would tell Micah. You I know won't. You might be a pain in the ass, but I know you won't betray my trust. Kristoff, as much as I love him, would tell Micah in a heartbeat._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Fair enough. But you know he's going to find out eventually, or piece things together. Then what?_

 _Frosty Soul: Then I'll deny it to the grave._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: You are hellbent on him never knowing._

 _Frosty Soul: Yes I am._

00000

It was soon time for school registration, and Elsa was busy filling out the elective classes she wanted to take. Like she had told Dr. Cohen, she was placed in mostly honors classes. She didn't mind, but she was a little worried about not having any classes with her friends at all. What really worried her though was the fact that Micah was going to need a lot of help with his work. Elsa knew he wasn't as prepared as she was, as he had struggled through much of seventh and eighth grade. It was actually stressing her out because there wasn't much she could do for him besides tutor him when she had free time. By the sounds of it, there wasn't going to be as much of that as she'd like.

For one of her electives, she decided to choose French. Elsa felt that it was a lovely language, and she would need a foreign language credit in order to get into college anyway. So it was a good pick. For the other elective, though, she had no idea. Her junior year she planned on taking psychology, but that was a ways away. For now, she decided to settle with web design, though it wasn't really something she wanted. It was mostly just a credit towards getting into college. That's what really mattered to her.

Rose ended up going with Japanese and art, which surprised no one. Her desire to be as much into Japanese culture as she could be was evident all the time. She was incredibly excited for it. Unlike Kristoff and Micah. Those two had no idea what they were going to choose, and they didn't really seem to care. This frustrated Elsa to no end, because she didn't want to see them waste their chances at a good education. It was important to her for them all to graduate together with as good of grades as they could manage. With the boys not taking it seriously, she was beginning to stress out over what would happen to them.

Once classes were chosen and lockers were assigned to them, the gang decided to take a tour of the school. It was rather big, with a second floor stretching just as far as the first. There were several branching hallways to wander down, so getting lost was going to be a likelihood until they became accustomed to how the school was laid out. Surprisingly, Elsa and Micah got lockers relatively close to one another, so there was a chance they'd see each other during the day. This brightened her mood quite a bit.

About two weeks before school started back up, the group got together and went out to dinner to celebrate their entry into high school. All four of them were nervous, but they were also looking forward to the experience as well. Micah had finally decided to go for computer science and German as his electives, with Kristoff taking the same classes since he couldn't decide on anything else. So, Elsa was at least somewhat satisfied with that. She didn't end up with any of the same classes as her friends, but she expected that much. With all of her classes being honors, she knew that that was likely going to be the case.

It was the Tuesday before school started, and Elsa was sitting at her laptop waiting for everyone to hop online. The only one that was there was Kristoff, who had remained quiet, which was unusual for him. Normally he'd strike up a conversation the moment she came online. So, it was up to her to initiate one.

 _Frosty Soul: Hey Kristoff. Why so quiet?_

It took a couple minutes before he responded, and at first Elsa wasn't sure he would.

 _Dominator: Oh hey. Sorry, was away from the computer. My niece is over, and I'm kind of babysitting her._

 _Frosty Soul: Well that's sweet of you. How old is she?_

 _Dominator: She's seven. She's adorable, but a little too energetic and adventurous. I thought girls were supposed to be the calm and quiet ones._

 _Frosty Soul: Tell that to Anna._

 _Dominator: How is she by the way?_

 _Frosty Soul: Excited to go into sixth grade. She's looking forward to camp._

 _Dominator: Oh yeah, she'll love it. Remember when you had to save Micah's ass?_

 _Frosty Soul: Of course I do. I still have nightmares about it._

 _Dominator: Damn, I'm sorry. I didn't know._

 _Frosty Soul: It's okay. I haven't exactly told anyone, even Micah. You guys already worry enough about me as it is._

 _Dominator: That's because we care. And after everything you've been through, it makes it that much more important that we're there for you._

 _Frosty Soul: Thanks. I do actually appreciate it. I just don't think you guys need to worry as much as you do. I try not to think about things much, and as long as I keep myself busy it's much easier to bury those memories in the back of my mind. The only time they really get to me is when I'm idle laying in bed. Sometimes they'll sneak up on me during the day, but it's become rather rare now. Therapy is helping with that._

 _Dominator: Well, that's great to hear! You've been seeing Dr. Cohen forever. I'm just glad that it's actually working for you._

 _Frosty Soul: Me too._

 _Dominator: You all set for school on Thursday?_

 _Frosty Soul: Yeah, mostly. I'm still nervous about it._

 _Dominator: I am too a little. I think we all are. Except for maybe Rose. I don't know how she does it._

 _Frosty Soul: I envy her. But I think Micah is terrified. I don't know if he's ready to be honest. He barely got good grades last year, and only then because I helped him so much. I'm afraid he's going to fail if I can't tutor him again this year._

 _Dominator: Don't worry. You won't have to be the only one. I talked to Rose about it, and we're going to pitch in to help you out so you aren't the only one. I'm in German and computer science with him, so I'll at least be able to help him there. Rose is in his math class, so she can help him out. So you have nothing to worry about. He'll be fine._

 _Frosty Soul: I certainly hope not. I'm still going to make him come over after school so I can supervise him. He tends to procrastinate if I don't. Last thing he needs is to be late all the time with his school work._

 _Dominator: I admire how dedicated you are to all of us and our education. I really do. I mean, not even my parents are that hardcore about it._

 _Frosty Soul: It's important to me that we all graduate on time together. I want us to be able to go off to college and succeed._

 _Dominator: Don't worry, we'll make sure all four of us make it._

 _Frosty Soul: I certainly hope so._

 _Dominator: Sorry Els, I gotta go for now. My niece is getting a little reckless at the moment. I'll talk to you in a bit._

 _Frosty Soul: Okay. Bye._

Closing her laptop, Elsa let out a sigh before getting up and heading to her bed. Grabbing her diary as she plopped down on the comfortable and feather soft mattress, she grabbed her favorite pen and started writing in it about all her fears of the coming school year, and what will happen to her friends. School started in just a couple of days, and she had no idea what to really expect. She had no doubt she could handle the workload that will be thrust upon her, but what she didn't know was that things would end up becoming very stressed between her and her friends.


	10. Chapter 10 - Dinner Plans

**Chapter 10**

 _Dinner Plans_

September 5th, 2013. High school. A new and scary experience for the gang. There was a sense of uncertainty, and the fear of the unknown. None of them knew what to expect, but they knew that it was going to be something to remember. At least, that's what their parents told them. Whether there was any truth to that they had no idea.

"I have no idea where the hell I'm going," Micah mumbled to himself as he wandered the halls of the school, desperately looking for his first period class. The tour they had taken just a couple weeks prior did little to help him remember where things were. It was the first day of school and he was going to be late, which was going to give off a very bad first impression.

The bell rang for class to start and he panicked. He was nowhere near where he was supposed to be, and he wasn't even sure where that was anyway. There were two floors to the school, and he had no idea what floor it was on. Wandering back towards where the office was, he noticed a map of the school on the wall that was split up just for people like him. It took him a matter of seconds to locate his class, which was on the second floor on the far end of the building from where he was. Sighing and rolling his eyes, primarily at himself, he took off as fast as he could without outright sprinting down the hallways.

Once there, he slid to a halt before entering the class, then waltzed in as if he knew where he was going all along. There was only one seat left in the back of the class, and before the teacher could say anything, he made a beeline straight for it. Most of the other students were watching him as he found his seat, and his face was slightly blushed. He was trying hard not to look back, and stared straight ahead at the teacher, who was standing there looking at him impatiently.

"You must be Micah Aldrin then," the teacher said.

"Um, yes sir," Micah replied shakily. "Sorry for being late. I got lost."

"Class starts at 7:45 am. Next time make sure you're here. Everyone else is."

Micah swallowed hard as he looked around the room nervously. Everyone was staring at him now.

"Sorry sir. It won't happen again."

The rest of class was mostly just going over expectations and rules. Typical beginning of the year procedure. Second and third period went about pretty much the same. Micah would run in several minutes late, apologize to the teacher, get reprimanded, and have everyone in the class stare at him and laugh. By the time lunch rolled around, Micah was ready to head home. It was tiring running across the building to each class, and he hadn't seen any of his friends yet. He didn't have a need to stop by his locker just yet, so he hadn't even run into Elsa. He knew that was likely going to be the case anyway.

When he entered the cafeteria, he saw that Kristoff and Rose were already there waiting. Just seeing his friends was a massive relief to his psyche. He felt drained already, and the day was only half over. There was no way he was going to make it the rest of the day if the pace kept up.

"Oh my god, am I glad to see you guys," he said as he slid into a chair across from them.

"Overwhelming isn't it?" Kristoff said around a mouthful of gross-looking lunchroom pizza.

"Just a little. How are you guys doing? And where is Elsa?"

"No idea. Haven't seen her all morning," Rose said.

"Hopefully she has the same schedule we do. There's only one lunch period right?"

"As far as I know there is. Don't worry though, she'll be here."

Nearly ten minutes passed by, and Elsa was still a no-show. The gang was about to give up on her. Soon lunch was almost over, and when she did finally enter the cafeteria, she ran as fast as she could to their table.

"I am so sorry I'm late guys," she breathed. "I just ran here."

"Where the hell have you been? There's only about ten minutes left of lunch," Micah said, annoyed.

"Again, I'm sorry. I met someone and we were chatting about global politics and-"

"Whoa, hold on," Rose interrupted. "You _met_ someone?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, it's not like that, but he was in my world history class and we just started talking. Or he started talking to me, rather."

"So some random guy just started talking to you, causing you to miss lunch?" Micah asked. He was a little peeved and jealous.

"Yeah, I guess so. I mean, you guys know me. I don't just strike up a conversation with anyone. So when he approached me, it was kind of weird."

"Does this tall, dark, and handsome stranger have a name?" Rose asked with a wicked grin.

"Yeah, Jeremy. I don't remember his last name. But he was nice, and he's kind of cute, I guess."

"Ooh, Elsa, you go girl!"

"Rose, you aren't helping things any at all. Please don't do that," Micah demanded.

Elsa turned to her friend with a questioning look. She was a little puzzled by his attitude. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he lied.

"Why don't I believe you?"

"Look, I said nothing is wrong. Can we just drop it?"

"Okay, I'm sorry."

"Micah, we have German after lunch. Just follow me so you don't get lost any more," Kristoff told him.

"How did you know I was getting lost?"

"Because you couldn't find yourself out of a wet paper bag," Rose teased.

"I hate you guys."

Soon the lunch bell rang, and everyone had to split up and head to class. When they left the cafeteria, Micah saw Elsa walking off in the opposite direction with some guy he didn't recognize. He immediately knew it had to be this Jeremy that she was talking about. He hoped it was nothing serious, but he was still becoming rather jealous.

"Hey, are you coming?" Kristoff asked him, snapping him out of his distracted stare.

"Yeah. Sorry."

"Dude, relax. They aren't dating. She just met the guy and they're talking. She's allowed to have other friends."

"Yeah, I guess."

"You're jealous."

"I am not," Micah said defiantly.

"It is incredibly obvious that you are. You were making an ass out of yourself during lunch."

"Let's just get to class. I don't want to talk about it anymore."

"Alright. I'm just saying there is nothing to worry about."

00000

The first day of school was over, and the gang was headed home for the afternoon. Micah ended up getting a ride with Elsa as usual, and on the way to her place they talked about everything that happened throughout the day. Elsa already had three homework assignments that would take her a little time to take care of, and Micah ended up with some math homework that he wasn't thrilled with at all. By the time they got back to Elsa's place, he was already ready to call it quits.

They headed upstairs to Elsa's room, tossed their bags in the corner, and went to grab snacks from the kitchen. A healthy dose of Pepsi and leftover pizza was their food of choice, and then they started in on their homework. Micah had an algebra assignment that completely confused him. He barely managed to pass last year, and the teacher was already handing out impossible work for them to do. He had to beg Elsa to help him out, which she did graciously. It took him all of fifteen minutes to finish with her guidance. There was no way he could have done it that fast without her.

It took Elsa roughly an hour to finish her assignments, but she considered them pretty simplistic. The hardest one was French, since they didn't really cover much in class. She was mostly just learning how to pronounce a few simple words and phrases, and explain the definition of each one. It wasn't difficult, but it was a bit more time consuming than the rest of her work. As soon as she was done, she tossed her things aside and looked at her friend.

"Okay, it's just us now. Can you please tell me what was wrong earlier?" she begged.

"Nothing was wrong. I was just stressed out, that's all."

"Micah, you don't act that way when you're stressed. Not once in the nine years we've been friends have you ever acted like that before. So please, don't lie to me."

"I swear nothing was wrong."

"Micah."

"What?"

"That is absolute bullshit and you know it."

"Maybe I should just go home."

"Why are you acting like this? What did I do?"

"... It's Kyle all over again," Micah said.

"What?" Elsa asked, completely perplexed.

"This Jeremy guy. You have a thing for the guy, and if something happens between you two then you're going to ignore all of us again. That's what's wrong."

"Wait," she said, shaking her head. "You think I have a thing for Jeremy? Micah, I just met him. He's in a couple of my honors classes. We were just talking about the material, okay? Nothing is happening. It's the first day of school for Christ's sake."

"You said he is cute."

"So? There are lots of people that are cute. Big deal."

"You don't say that about anyone. Except for Kyle."

"You are being ridiculous right now. You know that? Nothing is going on with us. Nothing is going to go on with us. I just met him today. I barely know him. It's not like we discussed anything personal. It was all school related."

"You're sure about this?" Micah asked, not really believing her.

"Yes, I am. Now please, settle down. I don't want to fight with you."

With a heavy sigh, Micah sat back down on the bed next to his friend and looked at her. The guilt was plastered onto his face.

"Look, I'm sorry. I worry about you. I don't want to see things repeat themselves. And I don't want to see you end up getting hurt somehow."

Elsa was looking down at her hands, fidgeting with her shirt like she always did when she was nervous or down. "I know. I will never let that happen again. I swear. I'm not even interested in dating. At least not right now. I mean, who knows what will happen in the future. But for right now, I'm perfectly happy spending my time with you doing stupid stuff like we always do. Playing games, watching movies, whatever. We've done this since we were little. I've already screwed that up once. I am not about to do that again. You guys mean way too much to me. Besides, who would help you with your homework if we weren't friends anymore?"

"Just promise me that you won't let anyone take advantage of you."

"Of course I promise. Why would I let that happen?"

"Because you're too nice for your own good sometimes."

"I can't help that I'm not a mean person."

"We wouldn't be friends if you were."

"Do you want to do something?" Elsa asked, changing the subject.

Micah shrugged, not really interested in doing much of anything. "I dunno. I'm not sure I'm really in the mood."

"Then what are we going to do? I mean, we can sit her and just talk, but we don't have a lot to talk about."

"Actually, there is something I thought about. But it's probably stupid and something you'd never be interested in."

"How do you know? I'm interested in a lot of stuff."

"Because it's nerd stuff."

"Micah, look at who you're talking to. I'm the biggest nerd of the group."

"Yeah, true. Okay, well here goes," he said, taking a deep breath. "There's this kid in my biology class that is into something called Dungeons and Dragons. It's like this game where you play as any character you want, and you go on adventures and search for treasure and stuff. It uses your imagination to play, but you can act out what your character says and does if you want to really get into it. There are rulebooks for it, and it's apparently pretty popular. I thought maybe we could look into it with the others and try it out if everyone was interested."

"I know what the game is. Some people talk about it on one of the forums I go to a lot. I've looked into it, and it sounded kind of cool. I just didn't expect you to be into it."

"Oh. So, do you want to give it a try?" Micah asked.

"Maybe. We can talk to Kristoff and Rose and see what they say. Rose would probably have a blast with it. Kristoff... I don't know. It doesn't really seem like something he'd do, but he'd probably go along with the rest of us."

"Okay, cool. We can talk to them tonight then. If they say their interested, we can go check out the books and stuff this weekend. I think it uses some funky dice too. That's what the guy I talked to said. I don't remember what kind though."

"I know what he's talking about, don't worry," Elsa told him. "When I said I looked into it, I made sure to see what kind of stuff there was that we needed to play. There's a twenty-sided die, twelve-sided, ten-sided... you get the idea. The books aren't cheap though."

"Well whatever. I thought it'd be something we could check out. And now that I know you're on board, I don't feel so weird about it."

"Why would you feel weird about it? You act as if I'm going to judge you or something."

"Well no, I don't know. I guess I just didn't think it would be something that you'd be into. You're pretty quiet, even when the rest of us are around. This game kind of forces you to be someone you're not."

"I have no problem talking and being stupid with you guys. You know that. I've just always been shy and quiet. And I let you guys do all the talking anyway."

"Okay, if you're sure about all this, then we can talk to them tonight about it."

"Okay, sounds good."

00000

A month passed and school was heavily underway. Everyone was finally getting into the groove of things, and life was balancing itself out. Classes were still overwhelming, but not nearly as much as they were the first couple weeks. The kids knew what to expect now, and their high school life was finally beginning to take shape. Micah's classes in particular were starting to take their toll on him, and he had no idea how he was going to survive ninth grade. If he didn't have his friends there to help him with his schoolwork, he wasn't sure how he was going to manage.

It was early in the morning, just before school was to start, and the gang was gathered around a table in the cafeteria waiting for the bell to ring. They still had some time, and were enjoying a healthy breakfast of french toast sticks and rubbery scrambled eggs. It wasn't particularly appetizing, but it beat no food at all. It was warm at least, so that was something.

"Did you get your German homework done, Micah?" Kristoff asked around a mouthful of egg and milk.

"Yeah, thankfully. Elsa helped me with it. I dunno how you do it, by the way. You're not even taking German," Micah said.

"It's not hard. English is primarily Germanic and Latin, so it's not that different really. Plus I've been helping you since the first day of class, so I'm kind of learning it with you. The only hard part is remembering how to spell everything, which also isn't that bad," Elsa said knowingly. She was busy dipping a piece of french toast into some cold syrup. If you could call it syrup.

"Look at you, being all smart and learning two languages at once," Rose teased. "I'm having enough trouble with just one."

"French is easy. So is German to be honest. And since English is made up of French, German, and Latin, among a few others, it's kind of just a natural process. For example, happy in German is _glücklich_ , whereas in French it is _content._ Neither is difficult to remember or pronounce, and they mean the exact same thing. Sentence structure isn't that different from ours either."

"This girl," Kristoff said, jabbing a thumb towards Elsa. "This is why she's the smartest one in the group. Want to do our computer science work for us too?"

"Not particularly. That's probably the one thing I can't help you guys with. I don't know any programming languages."

"Neither do we. We've just barely started programming simple commands," Micah said. "It's not all that easy. You have to learn the syntax, what the different variables are, how to toggle between yes/no commands... I don't know how I'm going to keep up."

"You have Kristoff with you. You should do fine as long as you guys work together. You're both very intelligent, you just don't apply yourselves nearly as much as you should."

"It's not that. We just prefer to be laid back about things. We don't have the same drive and discipline you do," Kristoff replied.

"Yeah. I mean, it's hard enough as it is putting in the effort we do give it. I don't know how I could possibly get any better than what I am right now," Micah added.

"This is exactly why I worry about you guys," Elsa stressed.

Just then, the tall boy that Micah had seen Elsa walking with several times walked up to their table. He had never been formally introduced, but they all knew who he was. Elsa walked with him every morning to class.

"Hey, Elsa, come on. Class is gonna start soon," the boy said, interrupting their conversation.

"Oh, okay," Elsa replied as she looked up at him briefly. "Oh, guys, this is Jeremy. The guy I've told you about. He's in four of my classes. Jeremy, this is the gang. This is Micah, that's Rose, and the big guy to her right is Kristoff."

Everyone except Micah waved at Jeremy, and Jeremy barely acknowledged them. "Yeah, that's great. Now come on. We're going to be late."

"Alright, bye guys. See you at lunch."

As she got up and walked off with Jeremy, Micah looked after them and shook his head. His eyes were narrowed, and he was clenching his teeth. Kristoff and Rose both noticed.

"Micah, what the hell is wrong with you?" Rose asked.

"Nothing," he said.

"Bro, that is not true. We can both see how this is effecting you. They're just classmates," Kristoff added reassuringly.

"I don't like him. Did you see the way he was telling her what to do?"

"No. What are you talking about?"

"He was ordering her to get up and follow him to class."

"No, Micah, he wasn't," Rose said, annoyed. "Why are you acting like this?"

"Acting like what?"

"Jealous," Kristoff and Rose said in unison.

"I am not jealous," Micah said defensively.

"Yeah you are, man. Just because you have a thing for her doesn't mean she can't have other friends," Kristoff reminded him. He could hear Rose let out a gasp.

"Wait, let me get this straight. _You_ have a thing for Elsa?" Rose asked.

"Kristoff, I am going to kill you," Micah threatened.

"Hey, it's not my fault you're acting like this," Kristoff countered with a smirk.

"Rose, I swear to God, if you tell Elsa anything, I will kill you too."

"Don't worry, hon. These lips are sealed," she promised. "But I do think you should totally go after her. You never know what could come of it."

"I am not going to throw my friendship with Elsa away simply because I feel something she doesn't."

Rose was dying to tell him the truth. But she had sworn to Elsa that she wouldn't. She couldn't even tell Kristoff, because he couldn't keep his mouth shut. If he could, she wouldn't have found out. So now she was contemplating just how she was going to set the two of them up without them realizing it was her. She had no idea how that was going to work, but she was going to try anyway. It was her duty as their friend. All she had to do was keep this secret from Kristoff, because he would blow the whole thing.

00000

A couple more weeks pass by, and it's nearly time for Halloween again. Elsa had begun to hang out with Jeremy outside of school, primarily because they were partnered together for a science project in their biology class. They mostly spent time at his house, which she found out that it was just him, his father, and older brother. His mother had run off when he was younger, and had no idea where she was. Elsa felt bad for him.

They had slowly become friends, although Elsa was a little apprehensive about it at first. She had a hard time making friends as it was, and Jeremy was different from the others. Her other friends sort of just forced themselves onto her, and for whatever reason it worked out. Jeremy wasn't doing that. He was slowly working on things with her, and the more time they spent together the easier it was to open up to him. Which was something she never thought she'd do.

After a few days of working on their presentation, Jeremy finally asked her if she wanted to hang out sometime that didn't involve schoolwork. At first, she wasn't sure. She normally had plans with her other friends, and she still had the commitment to Micah to help him out with his work as well. But she had coordinated efforts with Kristoff and Rose to help Micah with his homework while she was busy working on this project with Jeremy. It was a mock-up of the parts of an atom, and then a report on each of those parts and how they interacted with one another. The model was simple enough to finish in a day, but the report itself took a little time. Elsa had been tasked with doing the research and writing up the report, while Jeremy was the one to gather the materials for the atom that they had crafted.

Eventually, after enough begging, she said yes. So they chose the Saturday before Halloween to get together and hang out. They decided to go see a movie, something Elsa typically did with her friends when there was something worth seeing. The newest Star Trek movie was still in the theater, so they decided on that. It turned out to be fairly good, at least by her standards, having never seen the older movies. Once the movie let out, they chose to wander across the street to where the mall was and walk around.

They mostly talked about school stuff, and discussed who was going to do the presentation of their project. It was decided that Jeremy would actually do the reading since he was perfectly comfortable in front of the class, and Elsa would hold up their model atom and poster board with diagrams on it. She was perfectly fine with that. The less she had to talk, the better.

It didn't take Jeremy long to pick up on her shyness. He had noticed as soon as they met how reserved and quiet Elsa was. For some reason, that drew him to her. There was something about her that he liked, and he wasn't entirely sure what. At least not yet. There was something there though. That much he knew.

They didn't really look at the stores as they passed by, most of them being clothing outlets. Elsa wasn't the type of girl who dressed up to look pretty. She wore tight-fitting jeans, sneakers, and just regular t-shirts. A lot of the shirts she had accumulated over the last couple years were band shirts, such as Rage Against The Machine and Tool. She didn't wear any jewelry really. Her ears were pierced of course, but beyond that she didn't wear anything. Overall, she considered herself pretty plain.

Eventually they found their way to the food court, and he insisted on buying them lunch. He decided they were going to have pizza, and got Elsa a Coke. She preferred Pepsi, but decided it wasn't worth mentioning. The pizza wasn't the greatest, but she didn't mind. It was basically free food, and she had had worse. Besides, Jeremy was being nice enough to treat her to lunch, so she really had no right to complain. In fact, he had been really nice to her the whole time. The movie was his treat too.

"You know, I've been meaning to tell you for a couple weeks now," he said as he took a sip of his Coke. "You're pretty cool. You're nothing like I had first imagined."

The compliment made Elsa blush, and she tried her best to hide it. She was almost positive that she failed miserably. "Um, thanks. I guess. I mean, that's really nice of you, but I'm not cool in any way."

"Sure you are. You're smart, you're pretty, you like some interesting music, you're well-read, and your a hard ass worker. That makes you pretty cool in my book," he said with a grin.

This only caused her to blush even more than she already was, and she had no idea how to look away from him without seeming rude. "You really believe all that? I mean, you actually think I'm pretty?"

"Of course I do. Anyone with a pair of eyes could see that."

"Well, um, if you don't mind me saying, I think you're kind of cute too," Elsa awkwardly said. "Oh God, why did I just say that?"

Jeremy grinned even harder at that, and eyed her up and down. Humming to himself, he took another bite of his pizza, not taking his eyes off of her. "You should let me take you out. On a date, I mean. You'd have a lot of fun."

Elsa's eyes bulged in their sockets at his request. "Wait, you want to take me on a date? _Me_? Why?"

"Like I said, I think you're pretty cool and I'd like to get to know you on a more personal level."

"Oh. I don't know, Jeremy. I mean, you're really nice and all that, but I kind of have zero desire to date anyone."

"It's just dinner. Or lunch. Whichever."

"Well, neither of us can drive, so that would be pretty difficult. I mean, I could meet you somewhere by bus, mostly because I don't think you'd want me getting dropped off by my mom and-"

"Elsa, it's fine. If you don't want to, we don't have to. I just think you'd enjoy it. Besides, I'll be able to drive in a few months."

"I didn't say I didn't want to. I just don't know how it would work," she said with a shrug. "Wait, in a few months? When is your birthday?"

"January. So real soon."

"Oh. Well, um, I don't know what to say to that."

"Say yes."

"I don't know..."

"Just say yes. You want to, you know it."

Swallowing hard, Elsa looked away from him briefly before returning her attention to him. She was incredibly nervous. "Um... Okay. You can take me on a date."

"Perfect. Next Friday night. Do you know where Hannigan's is?"

"Yeah. My dad used to take us there once in a while."

"That's where you'll meet me. 7 pm. Dress nice."

00000

The ride home was awkward. Her mother questioned her on what they had done, and when she found out Elsa had a date she got excited. She couldn't believe her little girl was going out on her first date. It embarrassed Elsa to no end, and it was made even worse when her mother said that they were going to go shopping for some nice clothes for her to wear. That made sense, she guessed, since that's what Jeremy wanted her to do anyway.

So instead of heading home and hopping online with her friends like she had planned, she was instead spending the afternoon looking for something that wasn't band t-shirts and jeans to wear next Friday night. She ended up trying on several different dresses, none of which she liked. It frustrated her mother since she said Elsa looked great in all of them. The problem was, as far as Elsa was concerned, that she hadn't worn a dress since she was little. After about second grade she had switched over to pants exclusively. Now she just didn't like feeling exposed in one.

After a couple hours of moving from store to store, Elsa finally settled on a nice dark blue dress. It was sleek and moved easily enough, was a decent enough length that she wouldn't feel like the whole world could see underneath, and it wasn't so low cut that she felt like she was exposing her chest. It even had a fake belt to make it look like it had an accessory. She still wasn't too terribly fond of it, but she had to admit she looked pretty good in it. So once she decided that that was what she was going to wear, it was time to pick out some dress shoes.

Typically, girls her age didn't wear heels very often, but she decided she wanted to be a couple inches taller than she was. Unfortunately, most women's shoes were uncomfortable as hell. But the pair of heels she did find that she liked had thin laces and was a shiny black. They admittedly went very well with the dress. Her mother seemed to have no problem buying all of this for her, and was actually the one kind of coaxing her into getting it. Melissa even talked her into getting some jewelry to wear, even if it was cheap. Elsa didn't have any at home, and didn't really care for it. But Jeremy did say to dress nice. So she knew she had to at least put forth some effort.

Once all that nonsense was out of the way, they headed home. Her mother was telling her that she would show Elsa how to put on make-up and get really prepared for this date. Elsa thought that she was making too big of a deal out of nothing. It was only dinner. They weren't even doing anything fancy really. Neither could drink or drive, and their parents were basically paying for the whole thing. But she just went along with it, not really arguing about any of it. She still had no idea why she even agreed to it. Jeremy was just so convincing.

Eventually she made it home and headed straight to her room, exhausted from shopping and trying to piece together some sort of outfit. At first she just plopped down on her bed, ready for the day to be over with. But she had promised her friends that she'd be online so they could do something together. So, instead of crawling under the covers and trying to forget about all the embarrassment she had suffered through, she dragged herself over to her desk and flipped open her laptop. As soon it was booted up and Skype was open, her friends all bombarded her at once.

 _Raging Rajang: There you are._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: You're late, Missy._

 _Dominator: We were beginning to wonder if you were going to join us._

 _Frosty Soul: I'm really sorry guys. I went to the movies with Jeremy, then we walked around the mall for a bit before our parents picked us up._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: A movie, you say? Like a date?_

 _Raging Rajang: Do not start with that crap Rose._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Stop being so jealous._

 _Raging Rajang: I am not jealous. I just don't want to see you trying to hook her up again._

 _Dominator: I don't think she really needs help with that._

 _Frosty Soul: Guys, I'm right here. At least act like my presence matters._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Sorry, babe. How was your not-date?_

 _Frosty Soul: It was alright. I actually had some fun, which is a change. I was nervous as hell meeting up with him for something other than schoolwork. But the movie was actually pretty good, and then lunch was decent. Well, the chitchat was nice. The food was meh._

 _Dominator: So when is the real date then? Just kidding._

 _Frosty Soul: Next Friday, actually._

Silence. The chat died instantly. Elsa had no idea why they stopped talking, and she started feeling awkward again.

 _Frosty Soul: Um, guys?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: You didn't._

 _Frosty Soul: Didn't what?_

 _Dominator: You didn't just say you're going on a date. Did you?_

 _Frosty Soul: Yeah, I did. Why? It's not a big deal._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Yes, Elsa, it's a very big deal! Our little girl is going on a date!_

 _Raging Rajang: Joy._

 _Dominator: You could at least try to be happy for her, Micah._

 _Raging Rajang: What's there to be happy about?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: You are not going to start that crap again, Micah. Elsa doesn't deserve that._

 _Frosty Soul: Guys, it's fine. And he's right, you don't have to be happy or anything. It's just a date._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Elsa, you've never been on a date before. You and Kyle played video games. That was your entire relationship._

 _Raging Rajang: Never mind the fact that she completely ignored us._

 _Dominator: Dude, let it go already. She more than made up for it by now. That was two years ago._

 _Frosty Soul: He's right though. I basically ditched you guys for Kyle, and it was a stupid thing to do. We didn't even stay friends like we had planned. I have no idea where he is now, and I honestly don't really care. But this is different. It's just a date. It's not a commitment. We're just going to Hannigan's for dinner and that's it. The only thing that is even making this a real date is he told me to dress nice. So I had to go out and actually buy a dress._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: You are so sending me a pic of you in it._

 _Frosty Soul: When hell freezes over, maybe._

 _Dominator: So what are you doing after that then?_

 _Frosty Soul: I have no idea to be honest. I didn't think to ask him. I assume we're just eating then that's it._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Elsa, sweetheart, I love you, but you are naive as hell._

 _Frosty Soul: I don't follow._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: You guys are obviously going to be talking, and I doubt it'll be about school. So you're going to have to come up with some personal stuff you're going to want to talk about. Just avoid all that shit with your dad. He doesn't need to know any of that._

 _Frosty Soul: I am well aware of that._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Good. Then just talk about stuff like your favorite color, where you went to school before now, what kind of shows you like to watch... That sort of thing. Get to know each other._

 _Frosty Soul: Okay. That shouldn't be too difficult._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Just try not to sound bored or anything while doing it._

 _Raging Rajang: Why are you giving her dating advice?_

 _Dominator: Why shouldn't she? Elsa needs to know this stuff._

 _Raging Rajang: You guys are acting like they're going to be in some committed relationship or something. She doesn't need to put all this effort into a dinner._

 _Frosty Soul: Micah is sort of right. I mean, we're just going for food. I'm not looking for a boyfriend._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Elsa, sweetie, you're doing the naive thing again. He is clearly interested in you, and I can tell that you're slightly interested in him. So just go to that dinner, do what I told you to do, and see what happens. If nothing comes of it, no harm done._

 _Frosty Soul: Yeah, okay. I think I can do that. Now I'm nervous. Thanks._

 _Dominator: Don't be. Just try to have a good time._

 _Raging Rajang: It's an entire week away. She can back out of it at any time._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Micah, stop being such a killjoy. It's honestly getting annoying._

 _Frosty Soul: Please, don't start fighting over this. It's not important enough for that. And again, Micah is right. If I don't feel this is a good idea, I'll cancel it. I have all week to think it over. Anyway, I'm ready to change the subject. We should play something so we can focus on something other than my love life. Anyone up for Starcraft?_


	11. Chapter 11 - Date Night

**Chapter 11**

 _Date Night_

It was the week of Halloween, and Elsa was counting down the days until the most awkward day of her life. Rose made sure to remind her about her impending date with Jeremy at every opportunity. At first it was sort of amusing just how excited Rose was for her. But after about two days of constant chatter about it, Elsa's patience was starting to wear thin. It didn't really help any that she saw him in most of her classes, and had to present their report on Tuesday.

The presentation went smoothly. Jeremy was a natural in front of the class, and just like they had planned, all Elsa had to do was stand there and hold up whatever material he needed her to. They managed to get a perfect grade for their effort, which pleased her a lot. They seemed to make a good team, and she really liked that. It was easy to work with him, and it was nice that he was a year ahead of her. When he explained why he was in her class, since he was a sophomore, he told her that he had to redo some classes due to some serious health issues he had to deal with the previous year. She wasn't sure how that made sense, but she didn't see the need to question it further.

Now that she was freed up after school, she had time to hang out with Micah again and help him with his homework. Rose and Kristoff did their best, but they didn't tutor him the same way Elsa could. So once they got to her house he got down on his knees, hugged her around the waist, and thanked God himself that she was available again. This made her laugh and roll her eyes at him before dragging him back to his feet so they could get to work on his homework.

He wasn't really doing that bad. Though he gave himself little credit, he was picking up on the material much better than she had expected. Even the math wasn't nearly as hard for him as he had made it sound. Still, she was more than happy to help him on his work regardless. There was still the desire to see him graduate with her. Plus, it was more time spent together, which she was always looking forward to. She just prayed that he felt the same way.

"So are you looking forward to Friday?" he asked after finishing the last of his homework.

"I don't know," Elsa said with a shrug. "I'm kind of nervous, actually. And I really don't want to wear a dress."

"Why are you then?"

"Because he told me to dress nice."

"What's wrong with how you normally dress?"

"I don't know. It's just what he said to do. I didn't think to argue."

"So are you just going to do whatever he tells you to do?" Micah asked.

"What? No! Why would I do that?"

"I dunno. He just seems like that kind of guy."

"Micah, Jeremy is a nice guy," Elsa said for what felt like the umpteenth time. "I don't know why you have such a big problem with him."

"I'm just worried about you. I don't want to see you get hurt."

"That's not going to happen. It's just one date. I'm not making a big deal out of it anyway. That's Rose's job."

"Yeah, she won't quit reminding us about it. That has to be getting on your nerves."

"If I can be totally honest, both of you are getting on my nerves. The only one not going on about it or making it a big deal in any way is Kristoff."

"Wait, what did I do?" he asked defensively.

Elsa crossed the room and looked at her friend with pleading eyes. "Your jealousy, your hostility towards Jeremy, and your overprotectiveness. Micah, it's not grade school anymore. I'm growing up. As much as I love you as my friend, you need to stop trying to protect me from everything. I have to be able to live a little and make mistakes. I have to be able to fall in love with someone that will reciprocate that love."

"So you're in love with Jeremy."

"I didn't say that. It was a general statement. But what if I want my world to expand beyond us?It's just been the four of us for awhile now. I'm not saying that I'll turn my back on you guys either. Kyle was a mistake, and admittedly I had no idea what I was doing with him. But I've given it some thought and, well, I think maybe I should give dating a chance. Who knows if that's with Jeremy or someone else that I haven't even met yet. Or hell, it could be someone I know very well, but we don't know. We may never know. I'll be fifteen in a couple months. I'm starting to actually think about these things, and it's only recently that that has begun to happen.

"I want to love and be loved. I want to know what it's like to have someone that wants to be with me, that appreciates me, and likes me for me and not what I should be. Who that may be is a mystery. But I desperately want to break out of my shell and become someone. I'm tired of being this timid and shy little girl that can't open up to anyone. You are the only person that knows me as well as you do. For so long I have made sure not to let anyone else get close. I have put up this wall, and I have been so lonely because of it. If the three of you hadn't just thrust yourselves on me, we wouldn't be friends. But I don't want to have it be that way forever. I want to learn how to let people in.

"So yes, I have decided that this is important to me. I need this, Micah. I need to do this. So, I may be nervous as hell and completely unsure of what to expect, but it's something I just have to do. Jeremy is a nice guy, and I think he's kind of attractive. He's going to be sixteen in January. The only reason that matters is that he'll be able to drive, and while that isn't a merit in it's own right, it does mean that it will be easier to be with him should it go that way. I'm not going into this looking to hook up with him though. That much I will promise you. But I am going into it with an open heart and open mind. All I ask is that you try and respect my decision and support me a little."

Micah was quiet for several minutes. He had absolutely no idea what to say. There was no way he could have known just how strongly his friend felt about this. Plus, he now felt guilty about his attitude towards the whole thing. Elsa deserved better than what he had been giving her.

"Elsa, I don't know what to say. I had no clue that this meant anything to you. You made it seem like it wasn't all that important."

"It wasn't at first. But the last couple of days I've reassessed the whole thing. I deserve to be happy, don't I? I can't keep sitting around waiting for someone to fall in love with me. I have to make that happen. So, I have to give this a chance."

"Okay," Micah said with a sigh. "I guess what you're saying makes sense. But I'm never going to not try to be there for you. I'm always going to look out for you. You can't ever get me to stop, no matter how much you yell at me or hate me."

"I don't hate you. And I know you won't ever stop. I mean, I love the fact that you care that much. But you have to give me room to breathe."

"Alright. Look, I hope you end up having a good time. Just please, be careful."

"I promise I will be. You know that," Elsa assured him.

"Okay. I'm still incredibly nervous for you."

"That makes two of us."

"So now what?" Micah asked, changing the subject.

"I don't know. Your laptop is at home, so we can't readily play anything, unless you want to do something on the PlayStation. Or we can just sit and talk like normal."

"If you'd rather, I can just go home. I don't want to bother you."

"Micah, if it were up to me you'd never go home," Elsa said. "When you're here I don't have the nightmares, the memories aren't invasive, and I don't feel scared. Granted, my father is locked away, so I have nothing to be scared of. But the feelings are still there. You are the only one that can do that for me."

"At least I'm good for something."

"You're good for a lot of things. You're a great friend and person. Hopefully, someday you'll be able to make the woman of your dreams very happy. Plus, you're the most reliable person I know. You're always there for me. Nobody else is that available all the time."

 _You're the woman of my dreams._ "I'll always be there for you. You know that."

"I do. I don't think I could handle life without you being there."

"So, what are you going to wear to your date?" Micah asked with interest.

"Oh, this dress my mom bought for me."

"Is there any chance I can see you in it before you go?"

"What? Why?" Elsa asked nervously.

"Because I'm not going to get to see you wear it before your date on Friday. I've never seen you dress up before, and I kind of want to. You don't have to if you don't want to, but I would really like it if you did."

Elsa thought about it for a minute, considering telling him no. But it was Micah, and he was basically begging. Plus, she really wanted to. She would have preferred it be him that was taking her on a date, but that wasn't the case. So, she hesitantly decided to go ahead and put it on for him. She gathered up her dress and shoes, then headed to the bathroom to change. While waiting, Micah spent some time petting Pixel, who was ancient in rat years. It was a marvel he was still alive.

After awhile – Micah didn't bother keeping track of the time – Elsa finally returned to the room, nervous as hell and blushing. When she presented herself to him, his jaw dropped. He thought she was absolutely stunning. The dress hugged her body in all the right places, and her hair was put up into a bun. She was wearing the new earrings and necklace that her mother had bought her, and she had some light makeup on.

"Elsa, holy crap," Micah breathed. "You're beautiful as hell! I mean, I've never seen you look so pretty before. Now I'm incredibly jealous of Jeremy."

"You really think so?" Elsa asked in disbelief.

"Yes, I do. I don't know how to put it into words, but oh my god! I, um, I would totally...Never mind."

"You would totally what?" she asked with a puzzled look.

"Nothing. Don't worry about it."

"Please tell me."

"No. I'm not ever going to tell you, so drop it," he said adamantly.

"That's hardly fair."

"Hey, you still haven't told me what you were going to say back at sixth grade camp. Until then, my lips are sealed."

"Then I guess I'll never know."

00000

It was Halloween, and the gang was talking about hanging out at Rose's place since her parents liked to throw parties. Elsa still wasn't into the whole party thing, but the others wanted to get together and were looking for any excuse to do so. So, she reluctantly said yes. This year, Rose demanded everyone dress up in some fashion. None of them had costumes, of course, and they all basically told her off. But Elsa thought that, if she was going to go to Rose's party, then she could at least put forth the effort to put on some face paint. Anna still went trick or treating, and this year she decided to go as a zombie. All Elsa had to do was steal some of her makeup and turn her face into some dreary goth wannabe. She figured that would be more than enough.

They were sitting around their favorite table in the lunch room eating their less-than-appetizing school breakfasts before class started. They were talking about the party and what they'd be doing. It sounded like it would mostly be them just sitting around hanging out. Not much different than usual.

"My parents said I could start inviting some more people from school over if I wanted to. They love throwing their parties," Rose said while she was peeling an orange that came with her food. She wasn't having much luck with it though.

"Rose, we're the only people you know or hang out with. Nobody would want to go to your house. You're as weird and as much of an outcast as the rest of us," Micah said.

"You don't know that. I asked a few people around school, and they all said sure. So there is going to be at least three or four more kids there hanging out with us."

"If there is going to be more people there, I don't think I'm going to go," Elsa said slightly panicky.

"Elsa, babe, it's fine. These guys are cool. They're like us. It's not like I asked the captain of the football team to show up."

"Are you absolutely sure? I'm still not big on the whole party idea."

"I'm positive. I wouldn't have asked them otherwise."

"Look, if Elsa isn't comfortable with it, she doesn't have to go," Micah interjected.

"I know. I'm not trying to force her to. I'm trying to assure her that it'll be alright. Which it will be. But if you're absolutely against going," Rose said, turning to Elsa, "then you are not obligated to go. I don't want to make you uncomfortable or miserable."

Elsa let out a sigh. "It's fine. I'll go. Just don't expect me to be super social."

"I thought you were trying to break out of your shell," Kristoff reminded her.

"I am, but it's not going to happen overnight. I have to take baby steps."

Just then, Jeremy entered the lunch room with a couple other guys following him, and when he noticed Elsa he headed straight for her. He had this charming smile on his face, but it didn't seem to reach his eyes. At least, that's what Micah thought.

"Elsa, hey, we need to go. Class starts in a couple minutes," he said as he approached the table.

"We still have ten minutes. I'd like to sit and talk to my friends," Elsa responded.

"Yeah, well, we have a few things to discuss about yesterdays biology homework. So grab your stuff and come on."

"Alright," Elsa said with another sigh. "I'm sorry guys. I gotta go."

The others just sort of stared at her as she got up and left. Micah was rather pissed off, and turned back to his friends.

"I'm not the only one that saw that, am I?" he asked angrily.

"Saw what exactly? The guy wanted to check on their homework together," Rose said.

"He basically commanded her to follow him."

"Dude, you're doing it again. Quit with the jealousy," Kristoff told him.

"It's not jealousy. The guy is being a dick to her, and she's letting him. They're not even dating yet."

"What, she said she was going to go out with him?" Rose asked.

"Well no, but she said it's a possibility. I'm just really worried that she's going to be taken advantage of. This is Elsa we're talking about. She doesn't stick up for herself very much. Never has."

"Didn't she tell you that you need to back off and let her live a little? Try doing that."

"But-"

"No buts, Micah. Elsa deserves to have fun and be happy. Since you won't go after her, with all the opportunities that you've had, you're going to have to sit on the sidelines and let her move on. It's your own damn fault for being a coward and not coming clean to her."

"But we've gone over this. Elsa doesn't feel the same way about me. There's no way she could. She would have made it obvious and told me. She doesn't hide anything from me. It's always been that way."

"Jesus Christ, you are such an idiot," Rose exclaimed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Micah asked defensively.

"Nothing. It means nothing."

Shortly after, the school bell rang for first period. The group gathered up their things and went their separate ways. Micah was trying desperately to figure out what Rose was talking about, but couldn't piece it together. He decided it wasn't that important, at least not for now. Besides, there was always her Halloween party to bug her at.

The whole thing with Elsa really bothered him. He didn't like the way Jeremy was ordering Elsa around, and they haven't even gone on their date yet. The date itself was a massive ball of emotions wedged into the pit of his stomach. He hated admitting it, but he was indeed jealous. But he was also very worried for his friend. The matter of the fact was, Elsa didn't have much of a backbone. She never had. When Marshall picked on her, it had to be Micah that was there to protect her. When her father did the things that he did to her, she was too scared to tell anyone. Now she was dealing with a guy that seemed to be a little controlling, at least to Micah, and she was just going along with it. That bugged him to no end.

As the school day rolled on, lunch came and went. Elsa was a no-show again, and Micah was getting impatient. The others told him to relax, that she was probably caught up with some schoolwork, but he knew better. She was choosing Jeremy over them. That had to be the case. Otherwise, Elsa would have been there with them the moment the lunch bell rang.

At the end of the day, Micah was waiting outside the gym where the pickup spot was. He was riding home with Elsa like usual so they could get ready for Rose's party. Melissa had arrived a few minutes early, and since the weather was windy and it was starting to sprinkle, he chose to climb inside and wait.

"Hi Micah, how are you doing sweetie?" Melissa asked as he climbed into the back seat. He usually let Elsa sit in front.

"Tired. High school is so much more work than middle school ever was," he said.

"Have you seen Elsa?"

"No. She missed lunch. She's probably hanging out with that Jeremy guy," he said sourly.

"I take it you don't like him."

"Not particularly," Micah admitted.

"Why's that?"

"I don't like how he talks to her. He basically tells her what to do, and she just does it."

"Are you sure you're not just overreacting?" Melissa asked.

"I don't think I am. I know what I've seen."

After waiting nearly ten minutes, Elsa finally came walking outside with Jeremy at her side. They were talking, and she was laughing and smiling. That was something Micah had never seen her do with someone else. He could feel the jealousy getting stronger.

Once she got in the car and waved goodbye, they took off towards home. Micah didn't say anything the whole way, and her mother was asking her if that was Jeremy she was walking with. Then she started talking to her about the date tomorrow night, and the party they were going to at Rose's house. It had sort of become an unofficial tradition for them to spend Halloween at her place.

As soon as they got to the house, Elsa and Micah trudged their way up to her room to sit down and take care of what little homework they had. The teachers actually felt generous and didn't assign much. Neither of them would take more than half an hour to finish what they had. After that, it was time to start getting ready.

Elsa decided that she was going to paint Micah's face up, whether he liked it or not. If it wasn't her, he wouldn't have allowed it. So, after painting her face as best she could, making sure to look as depressed and soulless as possible, she tried her hand at turning his face into something that resembled a skeleton. She didn't have the same artistic talent that Rose had, but she knew what a skull looked like, and it didn't take nearly as much effort as she had expected it to. Once she was finished, she stepped back to admire her work. It actually looked pretty good. She was pleased with that.

Before long, it was time to head to the party. So they crammed themselves into the back seat of the car, letting Anna sit up front for a change. The ride was interesting, as people were already running around trick or treating. It gave them plenty to look at. There were lots of neat costumes, and it was always fun to see what kind of crazy stuff people could make at home. Even though she felt like she was too old to do it anymore, Elsa really loved the idea of dressing up as some monster or demon for the night. It made her feel fearless.

Once they were at Rose's and said their goodbyes, they were welcomed by a maze of dead bodies and fog from a fog machine. The Arlette's really loved to outdo everyone on the block with their holiday setups. Halloween was their favorite, and they always went all out on the decorations and the spook factor. Every year it was something different. This year, they made a new path to the front door, and inside had a couple people in costumes pop out and scare everyone. It almost gave Elsa a heart attack.

The party itself had already started, and the kids Rose had invited were gathered in the kitchen eating snacks. Kristoff was hanging out on the couch with some of the younger kids, which really didn't surprise any of them. He was comfortable with little kids, considering how many kids were in his extended family. He was one of the oldest, so he was always given the task of babysitting one of his cousins, nieces, or nephews. The cool part was that he liked it. He was really close with his family. According to him, they were all really good people.

Micah chose to take a seat on the chair next to the couch and watch one of the Halloween specials the kids were watching on TV. Rose led Elsa back to her room so they could talk for a few minutes in peace. The walls in her room seemed to have accumulated a few more anime posters than it had before, and now she had some figurines from her favorite shows lining the shelves of her bookcase.

"Okay, I want you sit and listen," Rose demanded, pointing at a spot on her bed.

Elsa didn't think to argue, although she let out a sigh. "What now, Rose?"

"About tomorrow. I've been thinking. You need some help with making sure things go smoothly."

"No, I really don't."

"Oh yes you do. Elsa, I know you and I know the kind of things you would talk about. You're too matter-of-factly and straightforward. But you also don't try to make things exciting. I'm not saying you are a bad or boring person, because you're not. You're really interesting and cool, and that's what you need to make apparent tomorrow night. You want things to go well with Jeremy, don't you?"

"Well, yeah, but-"

"So, you have to think this through. Do you know what kind of stuff he likes?" Rose asked her.

"Not really," Elsa admitted. "We don't really talk about personal stuff. It's almost always about school."

"Okay then. That's a start," Rose said as she paced back and forth. "Do not, under any circumstances, bring up school. Instead, I want you to ask him questions about himself. Find out what his favorite food is, what he likes to do for fun, that sort of thing. Show him that you're interested in him."

"Rose, I'm not even sure if I am interested in him that way. I only agreed to go on this date so he wouldn't pester me about it for weeks on end."

"I know that's not entirely true. The boys may be incredibly dense and blind, especially Micah, but I am not. I pick up on everything with you. You are totally into Jeremy, and you barely even know him."

"That's not true. I think he's a little cute, and he's been nice to me. That's about it. That's not enough to warrant any kind of real desire for the guy. Although I'm not ruling out the possibility either."

"And what are you going to do if he asks you out? Like as his girlfriend?"

"Oh. I don't know. I hadn't even considered that yet. I mean, this just a dinner date. It's not like it's some mating ritual."

"There's that naivety again. Why do you think he asked you out on a date to begin with?" Rose asked. It was more of a rhetorical question.

"I honestly have no idea."

"Yes you do. You're just afraid to admit it."

"I don't understand."

"Elsa, you may not believe it, but you're smokin' hot. If I were gay, I'd totally be into you. Plus you're just a kick ass person in general. You're smart, you're sexy, you're funny... You're all the things a guy like him is going to be looking for. So have some faith in yourself. He asked you out because he is totally into you."

Elsa scrunched her eyebrows together as she thought hard about what Rose had just said. "Do you really mean all that?"

"Of course I do. I have zero reason to lie to you. I want you to be happy, and since Micah is too damn stupid to open his eyes and see how you feel about him, then that means you have to move on with your life. You can't sit and wait for him to come to his senses."

"I know. That's what I've decided already. I mean, I'm not giving up on Micah, but I'm not waiting for him anymore either. I already know the likelihood of a teenage romance lasting is pretty slim, so whoever I end up with now probably won't be the person I end up with for the rest of my life. But I want to experience love before it's too late."

"That's my girl. And I shouldn't have to tell you to be careful, right? Watch yourself, but have fun, too. Don't let Jeremy take advantage of you in any way. Don't be that person. But enjoy the date, and then be sure to give me all the juicy details when you get home."

"I will. Mostly because I know you'll pester me until I do anyway. And I really don't want to talk about it in front of the guys, especially Micah. It's already a touchy subject for him anyway. Which I don't understand why. It's not like he has feelings for me."

"Girl, you are sometimes the dumbest smart person I know."

"What does that mean?"

"Nothing, sweetie. It means nothing.

00000

The next day, school passed by in kind of a daze. Elsa was trying her best to keep her mind busy so she didn't dwell on her date that night. It didn't really work nearly as well as she hoped. That morning at breakfast, she was able to spend the entire time with her friends. Jeremy hadn't come in and grabbed her, which was something of a relief. They didn't have a chance to speak much during any of their classes, but they did walk to class together during passing periods.

When her mother picked up her and Micah, she immediately started in with the dating advice. Micah didn't care to listen to it, and Elsa rolled her eyes as she mostly tuned out everything her mother said. It was like that the whole way home. There was some construction being done on the road leading to the house, so they got stopped and had to wait for the flagger to let them pass. This made it even more excruciating for both of them. They couldn't get to the house soon enough.

Once they had made it home and were in Elsa's room, they tossed their bags into the corner and flopped down on her bed, and just unwound. Micah complained about some of the work they did in his math class, and Elsa talked about her world history assignment that was due Monday but was already complete. Then they decided to play the new game she just got, Batman: Arkham Origins. They spent the next couple hours playing, then by 5 pm Elsa had to start getting ready for her date.

After she excused her self and went to get dressed in the bathroom, Micah just laid back and stared at the ceiling. When he heard a knock at the door, he lazily rolled his head to the side to see who it was. Without even waiting for him to respond, Anna slipped into the room and helped herself to spot on the bed.

"Whatcha doin'?" she asked innocently.

"Just waiting for Elsa to finish getting ready," he replied.

"I can tell you don't like this."

Sitting up, he looked Anna with a slightly stunned expression on his face. "How?"

"Because, you look nervous. And I've overheard you guys talking a bunch about it all week. To be honest, Elsa is kind of sick of talking about it."

"I know she is. I try really hard to not bring it up."

"I didn't mean just you. Kristoff and Rose are just as guilty. Elsa is already super nervous about it. Everyone poking and prodding and talking about it isn't helping her at all. You know her better than anyone, Micah. Elsa hates being the center of attention."

"Yeah, I know."

"Then you need to get the others to stop. They may not realize that what they're doing is freaking Elsa out. So when she gets done dressing up and putting makeup on, you need to tell her just how pretty she is, and you need to give her a big hug and tell her everything is going to be alright. You're the only person that can comfort her."

"Yeah, you're right. Okay, I can do that."

"And maybe consider telling her how you feel about her."

Micah's heart suddenly stopped for a brief moment as he did a double-take. "How the hell do you know? Am I that obvious to everyone?"

"Everyone but Elsa, yeah."

"Ugh. I suck," Micah said.

"Only if you don't tell her."

"I can't, Anna."

"Yeah, you can. You're just afraid to. I bet you think she'd reject you or something."

"Yeah, pretty much."

"God you are such an idiot," Anna declared as she rolled her eyes.

"What, why?"

"Never mind. Just do what I told you to, alright?"

With that, Anna left the room only moments before Elsa returned. She had all her makeup and jewelry on, and she was as stunning as ever. Micah couldn't help that his jaw dropped for a second time. This time, something was different.

"Elsa, I don't know if I told you before, but you are the most beautiful girl on the planet. I am so damn jealous of Jeremy right now."

This caused her to blush much brighter than the powder on her cheeks, and she stared down at her feet with her hands folded in front of her. "Thank you, Micah. It means a lot coming from you."

"I mean it. I really do."

With that, he pulled her into a hug, and just held her for a minute. She hugged him back, and enjoyed the embrace. Secretly, she wished it would never have to end. Then her eyes began to mist over, and she tried really hard to not begin crying. It would be embarrassing, and it would ruin her makeup.

"You okay, Els?" Micah asked with concern.

"Yeah, I am. I'm just incredibly happy," she said with a smile. He hadn't seen her smile like that in ages.

"Well, good. I really want you to have a good time tonight, alright? If this is what you want, and this will make you happy, then I hope everything works out for you. I, uh, just want you to know that I'm sorry for the way I've been acting. I've been trying to protect you for as long as I've known you, and I just get suspicious of people that either try to harass you or get close to you. I want you to be safe, and I want to be the one to keep you safe. But I've come to realize that that can't always be the case. So, I'm sorry."

"Micah, you're going to make me cry," Elsa said, sniffling and trying to wipe her eyes without smearing her makeup. "I don't really want you to ever stop, I just want you to trust my judgment a little. But please, don't ever stop being there for me, because I will always be there for you. No matter what happens, you will always be my best friend. That, I promise, will never change."

After a little idle chitchat, Elsa's mother called her down to get ready to go. Micah wished her luck and said his goodbyes before heading home. On the ride to the restaurant, Elsa looked out of the car window and watched as they passed by the houses and cars on the street. The only thing really on her mind was surviving this date, and wishing it was with Micah rather than Jeremy. But that was nothing more than a pipe dream.

00000

They arrived a few minutes early, and Elsa was already starting to have second thoughts. When she voiced her concern to her mother, Melissa laughed and told her that everything would be fine. This didn't help matters hardly at all, and Elsa was beginning to panic now that it was almost time. She considered telling her mother to turn around and drive home, but then she saw Jeremy get out of his father's SUV on the other side of the parking lot and decided that it was too late to turn back. With an encouraging look from her mother, she took several deep breaths to calm her nerves, then forged ahead to meet him at the entrance to the restaurant.

Greeting him at the door, she tried her best to carry herself with some form of pride. It was nearly impossible for her to keep it up, however, and she felt like she was making a fool out of herself. He was dressed incredibly nicely, and she felt like she hadn't done nearly half as good a job as she should have. But when she drew closer, he visibly looked her up and down and had a smile on his face.

"Well look at that," he said. "I didn't think I'd ever see you wearing something so nice. You look pretty good. Shall we get inside?"

"Um, sure," she replied. "You look good too."

"I had better. This outfit was pretty expensive."

As they entered the establishment and waited to be seated, Elsa looked around the place and noticed it had changed quite a bit since she had last been there. It was primarily a seafood restaurant, with dark wood paneling and all manner of fishing-related gear lining the walls. The portraits and paintings all depicted fishing vessels and seascapes, and there was a massive lobster tank by the entrance. She even noticed the ceiling fans were made of paddles.

When they were finally escorted to a booth in the back corner of the restaurant, Elsa slid into her seat and folded her hands in her lap. Once the waiter handed them their menus, she started leafing through it, but really didn't see much she liked. She wasn't really big on seafood, and that was pretty much all they served. None of it really sounded all that appetizing.

Eventually she just decided on the fish and chips basket, which was always a safe go-to choice. Once she had made her decision and set her menu down, she realized that Jeremy was sitting there looking at her. After a moment, he looked around and motioned to the waiter once he spotted him. The man came and took their orders and left, leaving them to themselves. Elsa found it to be very awkward.

"So, how are you feeling?" he asked after several moments of silence.

"I'm fine."

"Just fine?"

"Yeah, just fine. Why?" she asked, confused.

"Oh, it's nothing. I just thought you'd be a little excited, that's all."

"I'm, um, rather nervous actually. I've never done this before." She was having a hard time looking at him.

"That's alright. I can help you with that. How about we start with something basic. What do you like to do for fun?"

"Oh. Um, hang out with my friends, mostly. Play games with them and just goof around."

"And you are referring to those kids you sit with every day?" Jeremy asked.

"Yeah. We've known each other for awhile now. Micah I've known since kindergarten. He's my best friend. We do everything together."

"I see. Are your friends in any of the honors classes?"

"No, just me."

"That's a shame."

"Why?"

"Oh, no reason. I just expected them to be more advanced than that."

Elsa shook her head in confusion, not really sure where the conversation was going. "I don't understand. Why does it matter?"

"It doesn't. I'm just a little surprised is all. With as intelligent as you are, I figured you'd have friends in the same classes."

"Oh."

There was more awkward silence. It stretched on for a couple minutes, until their waiter came back with their drinks. Elsa had ordered their iced tea, and there was a large lemon wedge in her drink, which she liked.

"So, do you like to read?" he asked, trying to provoke her into speaking some more.

"Yeah. I love to read. I have all sorts of books at home."

"Do you have a favorite?"

"Not really. I like pretty much everything I have. And before you ask, no, I don't like Twilight."

"I didn't expect you to," Jeremy said with a grin. "What's your favorite genre?"

"I really like fantasy," Elsa replied, beginning to loosen up a bit more now that she was talking about something she was passionate about. "It allows me to escape into a world that doesn't actually exist for awhile. I'll even read dark fantasy, like The Wheel of Time and A Song of Ice and Fire. Both are personal favorites, so I guess that answers your previous question."

"How about things such as sports?"

"Oh, no. I don't care about sports at all. They just don't really interest me."

"I see. Do you have any pets?"

"Yeah, my pet rat Pixel. He's really old though, and is probably going to die soon. He's outlived what the typical rat is supposed to live by almost a year."

"A pet rat? I didn't take you to be that kind of person."

"Why? I love Pixel. He's incredibly smart and friendly."

"Just most girls I know and have dated wouldn't touch the things, that's all."

"Oh. Well, I guess I'm weird. I've been told that so many times in my life that I don't even care anymore. I'm perfectly happy with being who I am."

"Well, that's good. I like a girl that is comfortable in her own skin. Which you have very pretty skin."

"Um, thank you," Elsa said with a blush.

Soon the waiter returned with their food, and they talked idly about what their plans were for the weekend. She asked him some of the same questions, and learned that he was into sports such as golf, and that all of his friends were honors students, that he had a pet collie named Winston, and thought that horror movies were lame. Dinner turned out to be pretty good, and Elsa ended up having more fun than she had anticipated. When the check came, she started digging through her purse to pay for her half of the check, but Jeremy stopped her and told her it was his job to pay for them.

As they were waiting outside for their parents to pick them up, Jeremy grabbed her by the hand and walked her a little bit away from the entrance. Then he turned to her and looked her in the eyes.

"I had a good time. I know you did too. So, I'd like to ask you something important," he said. His voice sounded rather commanding.

"Uh, okay," she replied nervously.

"Elsa, I would really appreciate it if you were to be my girlfriend. What do you think?"

"Oh, I don't know Jeremy. I mean, I'm not really looking for a boyfriend and-"

"Just say yes. That's all you have to do."

"Jeremy-"

"All you have to do is say yes."

Elsa fell silent for a moment and thought it over. She really didn't have anything to lose. He had been nice to her the whole time, and went out of his way to pay for dinner. Plus, she had decided she would be willing to give it a shot. So her mind was pretty much made up for her.

"Okay, yes. I'll be your girlfriend."

"Now that's what I wanted to hear."

Without warning, he leaned close to her and kissed her on the lips. It caught her off guard, nearly startling her, but she didn't pull back or fight it. Instead, she closed her eyes, and leaned into it.


	12. Chapter 12 - Birthday Boy

**Chapter 12**

 _Birthday Boy_

Elsa's heart was still racing when she walked into her room and set her purse down on her desk. She didn't know why it was beating so hard. The date had gone relatively well she thought, though she wasn't expecting that last minute kiss. The interesting part was that it was nothing like it had been with Kyle. This one felt different. It was almost enjoyable.

Changing into her pajamas, Elsa flipped open her laptop and logged into Skype. Sure enough, all of her friends were online. She hadn't given Jeremy her Skype info just yet, and didn't know if she would; she still wanted there to be somewhere that she could be safe with her friends. As soon as she was online, she opened up a chat with just Rose and hoped that she could talk more than be lectured.

 _Frosty Soul: Hey. I'm home. Finally._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Oh hey! So, how did it go?_

 _Frosty Soul: It went rather well, I think. We talked about ourselves, just like you had told me, and had a nice dinner. It wasn't anything fancy, but I still feel like I underdressed for the date. I mean, he had on a very expensive outfit, at least according to him._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Why haven't you sent me a pic of you in your dress yet?_

 _Frosty Soul: I don't know. I mean, I'm already self-conscious about it as it is, I don't need you making fun of me for it._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Why in the hell do you think I would make fun of you?_

 _Frosty Soul: I don't really know. Probably because I look terrible in it._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Did Micah get to see you in it?_

 _Frosty Soul: Yeah._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: And?_

 _Frosty Soul: He said he liked it._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: That's it? That's all he said?_

 _Frosty Soul: Well, no. He said I was the most beautiful girl on the planet. But I think he was just being nice._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Remind me to smack you upside the head next time I see you._

 _Frosty Soul: Why?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Forget it. So, what else happened? Did you guys hold hands or anything? What did you talk about? Details, girl. Now._

 _Frosty Soul: Well, I know his favorite color is forest green, and he's had six girlfriends before me. I don't know what to think of that. It's probably nothing._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Six!? Wow. Okay. What else?_

 _Frosty Soul: Um, all we really did was talk. Nothing exciting happened besides him kissing me._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: No way! How was it?_

 _Frosty Soul: It was...okay. Much better than with Kyle. I guess I kind of enjoyed it. I mean, my heart is still pumping pretty hard and I have no idea why. It's not like it was an amazing kiss or anything. He sort of just took charge and did it._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: A go-getter. Interesting. So, he clearly knows what he wants._

 _Frosty Soul: Yeah. He also wanted me to be his girlfriend._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Wow. What did you say?_

 _Frosty Soul: I ended up saying yes._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Oh my god! Elsa has a boyfriend!_

 _Frosty Soul: I only said yes so he wouldn't keep bothering me about it._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Are you sure that's the only reason?_

 _Frosty Soul: Positive. I mean, yeah, you were right. I have nothing to lose really. But it's not like I'm in love with him or anything. You know where my heart lies._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Yeah, but that ship is never going to sail, sweetie. Not any time soon, at least. You might as well try and enjoy this while you can._

 _Frosty Soul: I know. I'm going to try. But I still feel weird about it. I really don't feel like dating. I'm only doing it to try and get over that feeling, and so he doesn't bug me all semester about it._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: So, what are you going to tell the boys?_

 _Frosty Soul: I don't know yet. Kristoff I know won't care really, but Micah is going to flip out. I don't know why, but that's exactly what he'll do._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Well, they're going to have to know before too long. They'll find out soon enough on their own. You don't want that to happen._

 _Frosty Soul: I know. So what should I do?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: I say jump into group chat and just tell them. I'll be there rein in Micah for you if you need me to._

 _Frosty Soul: You might have to. Now I'm nervous._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: I know. But you gotta tell them eventually. Just get it out of the way now._

 _Frosty Soul: You're right. Okay, I'm going to hop over._

Elsa was extremely nervous, mostly because of how she knew Micah was going to take the news. He had already made it abundantly clear that he wasn't thrilled with the idea of her being with Jeremy in any way. The problem, as far as he was concerned, was that Jeremy was going to take advantage of her. Being older than her by a year didn't help any. Soon he was going to be able to drive, and that was scary to Micah.

 _Frosty Soul: Hey guys, you there?_

She only had to wait a few seconds before anyone responded. It was Micah who answered first.

 _Raging Rajang: Hey Els. Did it go okay?_

 _Frosty Soul: Yeah, it went fine. Better than I anticipated at least._

 _Raging Rajang: That's good to hear. He was nice to you the whole time?_

 _Frosty Soul: Yeah, he was really nice. We talked and had a good time. I actually learned a little bit about him. Not much, but enough to know him on a more personal level._

 _Dominator: Glad to see you had a good time. Overall it was a good experience then?_

 _Frosty Soul: I think so. I mean, I didn't dislike it. The strange part was when he kissed me._

 _Raging Rajang: He did what!?_

 _Dominator: Wow, that was bold of him._

 _Raging Rajang: Why the hell did you let him do that!?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Chill, Micah. It was just a kiss._

 _Raging Rajang: Alright. I'm chilled. Sorry._

 _Frosty Soul: Like Rose said, it was just a kiss. Nothing special. I mean, It was different than the one with Kyle. This one felt...better. Not good per se, but it wasn't bad. But there weren't any sparks flying or anything like that. It was just tolerable._

 _Dominator: So what happened after?_

 _Frosty Soul: He asked me to be his girlfriend._

 _Raging Rajang: Of course he did. You said no, right?_

 _Frosty Soul: Not exactly._

 _Raging Rajang: What._

 _Dominator: Wow, Elsa, I'm impressed. I didn't think you'd go through with it._

 _Raging Rajang: Me neither._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Micah, seriously, stop with the attitude._

 _Raging Rajang: I'm not giving her attitude. I'm just incredibly shocked. I mean, I didn't think that she would say yes like that. Elsa has been very adamant about not getting into a relationship, yet here she is with a new boyfriend._

 _Frosty Soul: It's not exactly like that._

 _Raging Rajang: Then what is it like?_

 _Frosty Soul: I only said yes because I didn't want him bugging me all year about it. I still don't really feel much towards him besides he's a nice guy. But I swear I'm not going to let the whole Kyle thing ever happen again. You guys are still my first priority. I'm going to make that very clear to him on Monday when I see him next._

 _Raging Rajang: I seriously hope that this doesn't end up that way._

 _Dominator: Yeah, no offense Els, but me too. Last time we hardly ever saw you._

 _Frosty Soul: I know. I swear to whatever god you want that I will never make that mistake ever again. Now then, change of subject please. Do you guys want to play a game?_

00000

Monday was...strange. It was early morning, nearly half an hour before the bell rang for class to start, and Elsa was sitting alone with Micah in the lunch room eating breakfast. They usually got there pretty early simply so Elsa's mother didn't have to deal with all the traffic that would come closer to drop-off time. It was almost always the same breakfast, too. French toast sticks, scrambled eggs, or egg sandwiches, all complete with a choice of regular or chocolate milk, or orange juice. The food was always mediocre.

They were waiting for their friends to arrive, which wouldn't be for another ten minutes. Because they lived on the other side of town, they rode the bus to school. Neither Kristoff or Rose minded much. They didn't have to wake up nearly as early to get to school, and both always got breakfast at home.

"So, what did you end up doing all weekend?" Micah asked as he tried to suppress a yawn.

"Not much. Besides playing Starcraft and talking to you guys, nothing really. I mostly just read," Elsa said with a shrug. "How come you didn't come over?"

"I dunno. I didn't want to intrude on you now that you have a boyfriend."

"Micah, we're still best friends. That isn't going to change. You're more than welcome to come over whenever you want. You know that."

"Yeah, but-"

"There is no 'but'. You're always welcome at my house. Besides, I wanted you to come over and keep me company anyway. I always do."

"But what about Jeremy?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. He had half of a French toast stick hanging from his mouth.

"What about him? I didn't talk to him all weekend. Besides, we're not even serious yet. It's been two whole days. Even if we were serious, you're still my number one priority. You always will be."

"Are you sure? I don't want to intrude on anything."

"Micah, how long have you known me?"

"Um, nine years this year."

"And in those nine years, have I ever complained about you 'intruding' on anything?"

"Well, no..."

"Exactly. I will always make an exception for you. Always."

It was nearly 7:30 am before the others arrived, and when they did they greeted Micah and Elsa with warm smiles. Kristoff looked more tired than normal, but he was always tired in the morning so it wasn't that unusual. Rose was always alert and perky first thing in the morning. Had been as long as they knew her. Today she was wearing one of her Fullmetal Alchemist t-shirts with matching wristbands.

"Mornin' guys," she said as she slipped into a chair across from Elsa.

"Yeah, mornin'," Kristoff mumbled. He was not much of a morning person.

"Hey. Sorry we didn't get together this weekend. I meant to invite you guys over but actually forgot," Elsa said apologetically.

"It's fine. I was busy helping my parents move furniture around. They're getting rid of the couch and chairs for some new thing they purchased. It's like a big curved couch that comes in big sections," Rose said.

"Oh, well that sounds nice, I guess. I have some sad news though."

"Uh oh, what's that?"

"Pixel died Saturday morning. I was holding him while I cleaned out his cage, and he crawled down onto my bed and laid down. When I went to pick him up, he wasn't moving or breathing," Elsa said, the sadness apparent in her voice.

"That sucks. I know you loved the little guy."

"Yeah, you had him for a long time. I mean, almost as long as I've known you," Kristoff added.

"It made me cry a little. I found a small shoebox that my mom had, and asked her if I could bury him in it in the backyard. She said yes, thankfully. Anna and I had a little ceremony for him. It was nice, for a burial. After I finished filling in his grave I just sat and cried for about twenty minutes. I don't know why it was so emotional for me."

"Because you're a loving, caring person. Even when it comes to animals," Micah said as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

After a few more minutes of talking, Jeremy made his appearance and walked over to their table. He had a smile on his face, but Micah didn't think it was intended to be friendly.

"Good morning everyone. Elsa, come on," he instructed.

"Jeremy, I'm talking to my friends. Whatever homework questions you have can wait until class. I'll be there in time, I promise," Elsa said.

Jeremy's eyebrow twitched ever so slightly. Micah doubted anyone else caught it. He certainly almost hadn't.

"I'm sorry, but you really need to come with me. There's a few things we need to discuss before class, such as our project for tomorrow."

Elsa stared at him for several seconds before letting out a sigh. "Okay. I'm sorry guys. I'll see you at lunch."

As they walked away, Micah turned back towards the others and stared at them. They both looked at him with their eyebrows raised.

"Okay, tell me you noticed that too," Micah said.

"Yeah, it seemed a little off," Kristoff admitted, "but I dunno. Maybe it's nothing. It seemed like whatever they had to deal with was kind of important."

"This is the kind of stuff I've been talking about. He's demanding of her, and she just lets him do it."

"Micah, I think maybe you're overreacting. Like Kristoff said, it could have been pretty important whatever it was," Rose said. She didn't sound too sure of her answer though.

"It's been this way every morning since she met the guy. He comes in here, demands she go off with him to discuss something, and she just caves. There is something going on."

"They just started dating Friday. I can't see how anything has been going on."

"Dude, just give Elsa some space. Let her decide on what to do. If she decides that this isn't worth the trouble, she tell him so," Kristoff reminded him.

"I guess," Micah replied. "But I still don't like the guy."

"Micah, you don't get to say anything anymore. You've had your chances with Elsa so many times it's ridiculous, and you forfeited them every single time. If you had the balls to tell her how you feel, that would be different. But you don't. So now you get to sit back and suffer while she moves on with her life," Rose said. It was the same conversation they had had several times.

"Whatever."

"No, it's not 'whatever'. You have been acting like the world's biggest jackass about this, and it needs to stop. If you love her, go after her and tell her already. Otherwise, keep your mouth shut. Nobody wants to hear you whine and complain anymore."

"I don't need this. I'll see you guys later," Micah said as he angrily got up and stormed out of the lunch room.

"Do you think he'll ever tell her?" Kristoff asked after Micah had left.

"I hope so. He has no idea what he's missing out on," Rose replied with a sigh.

"What do you mean?"

"You can't be serious."

"Well, I am."

Rose turned fully to look him in the eyes and stared at him with a look of impatience. "You really have no idea? Kristoff, Elsa is madly in love with Micah. Has been since before we met them. She's been waiting on him to realize his feelings for her and to tell her so. But she thinks that he doesn't feel that way about her."

"Wait, seriously!? Holy crap. We have to tell him."

"No, we don't. I have sworn myself to secrecy between both of them. Now you have to as well. Things need to happen on their own. Although it seems that they could use a little push."

"And how do you propose we do that without them knowing it's us?"

"I haven't thought of a plan yet. But we clearly need to do something. They're both miserable."

00000

A month passed until it was Thanksgiving, and Elsa had been invited to Jeremy's for the holiday. She had to decline since her family already had a tradition with Micah and his mother, and she didn't want to bail on them. Jeremy wasn't pleased with this, but said he was understanding of the matter. So, Elsa got to spend the holiday with her best friend like always. She wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

Then Christmas rolled around, and things were slightly different. For her birthday, Jeremy took her out shopping at some high end stores and outlets. She argued the entire time that she didn't need the fancy clothes, but he refused to listen to her. He would tell her what he wanted her to wear, and she would ultimately appease him. The price tags were outrageous on many of them, and most of the clothes were things she would never consider wearing normally. Overall, it made her feel guilty because she knew she wouldn't wear any of it, and she couldn't pay him back for any of it.

What really stressed her out, though, was the fact that she wasn't able to spend any time with her friends on her birthday. She would have rather had Jeremy over at her house with her friends and just hang out. But it began to become abundantly clear that that would never happen. Jeremy refused to associate with her friends, and her friends became bothered with him and his attitude. Especially Micah, who had grown rather angry with the guy over a short period of time. It was rather taxing on Elsa's mood most of the time.

In January, it was Jeremy's birthday. His dad bought him a new car to celebrate, and had already taken the driver's training courses at school. All that was left was to head to the Depart of Motor Vehicles and take the test. He had told Elsa to be at his house around 2 pm on a Saturday, a day she had intended to spend time with her friends. But he was her boyfriend, so she was obligated to go.

They were outside in the driveway looking at his new car. It was a sporty red 2014 Ford Mustang. His father, owning his own lucrative business, went all out on the thing. It was far more expensive than Elsa had originally thought Jeremy's first car would be.

"Isn't she beautiful?" he asked as he was fawning over the thing, running a hand across the top.

"It's definitely a nice car," she replied, not entirely excited.

"Of course it's a nice car. Elsa, do you have any idea how expensive this baby is?"

"No, why?"

"It's over thirty-thousand dollars. So yes, it better be a nice car. Get in, we're going to test her out."

"Jeremy, you don't even have your license."

"I said get in," he commanded.

Without another word, she did as she was told. Getting into the passenger seat and buckling in, she waited for him to start the engine up and take off. As soon as it roared to life, they were out on the road heading to God-knows-where.

"Jeremy, can you please slow down," she begged.

"No way, we are going to see exactly what she can do."

The car began to speed up, going way over the speed limit. They were out on the main road within seconds, and he kept pushing the car to go faster and faster. He was lucky there wasn't much traffic, because as soon as he got stuck behind someone, he got angry and rode extremely close to them.

"Will you back off!? You're tailgating!" Elsa shouted.

"Hey! What have I told you about talking to me like that?"

"I don't give a damn, Jeremy! This is dangerous! What if you get pulled over? You don't have your license yet!"

Seconds later, he pulled off the road and down a side street before stopping.

"I told you, never talk to me in that tone of voice," he said angrily.

"What the hell has gotten into you?" she asked, scared out of her mind.

"What has gotten into me? My girlfriend is arguing with me over my driving. The same girlfriend that can't get her license for another year. The same one that I have done everything I can to give her the best of everything. You're being incredibly ungrateful right now. Oh, and I noticed you aren't wearing any of the clothes I told you to wear."

"I told you the day you bought them that I didn't care for them. They're not my style."

"Not your style. Really. I see how it is. You think I lack taste, is that it?"

"I didn't say that."

"Then what are you trying to say Elsa? Huh? You don't like the clothes I bought you because they aren't your style. What is your style, exactly?"

"What I'm wearing right now. Jeans, a t-shirt, my Converse... I like this! Not the expensive crap that you bought."

"Crap? You're calling the stuff I bought you 'crap'? Do you have any idea how much money I have spent on you? A lot. We're talking a couple thousand. So don't you dare tell me that that stuff is 'crap'!" He was getting livid.

"I want to go home," Elsa demanded, crossing her arms.

"You want to leave? Fine. Get out."

"Jeremy, you can't just leave me here."

"I said out. Now."

Grabbing her purse, Elsa got out of the car and slammed the door and watched as Jeremy sped off down the road. She was on the verge of tears, and had trouble pulling her phone out to call her mother. She didn't even know where she was. The neighborhood didn't look familiar to her at all.

After she got off the phone with her mother, she sat down on the curb and waited. She had finally started crying, but only a little. She had no idea why Jeremy was acting the way he had been, and she didn't like it. But she knew it was her fault, and she had to make it up to him somehow. However, the first thought that ran through her mind was that she had to call someone.

The phone rang several times before it was picked up. On the other end was a familiar voice.

" _Hey Els. How are things going with the boyfriend?"_ Micah asked.

"Um, not good, actually," she said through a sniffle.

 _"What happened? Why are you crying?"_

"We got into a fight and he just ditched me."

 _"What!? Where are you?"_

"I'm not sure. The street is 'Parker Avenue", but I don't know where that is."

 _"How the hell did you end up there?"_

"Jeremy got a new car for his birthday, and he wanted to take it for a test drive. We were heading down the main road that cuts through the middle of town and he just kept going faster. I yelled at him to slow down, then he got angry and we started arguing about all the stuff he's bought me and how expensive it all was. I don't know why that even came up. Anyway, I told him I wanted to go home and he just pulled over, then kicked me out."

 _"Jesus. Have you called your mother yet?"_

"Yeah, she's on the way now."

 _"Okay, just stay on the phone with me until she picks you up. Are you alright?"_

"I don't know right now. My feelings are really hurt and I'm a little scared."

 _"I'm awfully sorry, Els. I don't know what to say. Jeremy is an asshole, though. You have to realize that by now."_

"He's not normally like this. I don't know what got into him."

 _"Okay, if you say so. Do you want me to come over when you get home?"_

"Yes, please," she said, still sniffling and wiping away the tears.

 _"I'll be over there the moment you get there then."_

"Okay. My mom is here, so I'll see you in a bit."

As her mom pulled up, Elsa did her best to dry her eyes and to get her nose to stop running. When Melissa asked her what had happened, Elsa told her the same thing she told Micah. Her mother wasn't very pleased with the situation, and voiced her opinion on Jeremy's actions and attitude. Elsa didn't really respond to it, instead choosing to stare out the window on the drive home. Once they were pulled into the driveway, Elsa was already texting Micah. It took him less than thirty seconds to respond, flying out the door as fast as he could.

Nearly ten minutes later, there was a knock at the door. Anna answered it and led Micah up to her sister's room. When he walked in, he saw Elsa laying on her bed with her back to the door. Looking back at Anna, he saw that she was slowly closing the door, giving them some privacy. Elsa was still clearly upset, and he had no idea what to say or do.

"You can come sit down if you want," she finally said with a slight cough.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yes. I would like it if you did."

Walking across the room and taking a seat next to her, he turned to her and laid a comforting hand on her arm. "I'm really sorry about this, Els. You don't deserve to be treated that way."

"Yes I do. It was my own fault."

"How could him kicking you out and driving off without you be your fault?"

"Because I argued with him, and I made the mistake of not wearing the clothes that he wanted," she tried to reason.

"That is absolutely ridiculous, Elsa. He was clearly in the wrong, and you are not some doll he can just play dress-up with."

"But he bought them for me, and I've been ungrateful about it."

"You told him you didn't like them when he bought them for you," he reminded her.

"I shouldn't have argued then either."

"Elsa, this isn't like you. Why are you doing this to yourself again? You did the exact same thing when your dad was still here hurting you. You're better than this."

"No, Micah, I'm not. I'm an insignificant speck that matters to no one."

"That is bullshit and you know it."

"How so?" she asked.

"Because you matter to me. You have no idea how important to me you really are."

"Thank you, but I know you don't mean it."

"Of course I do. I have never lied to you before," Micah told her.

This started to make Elsa cry even harder, and it broke Micah's heart. To know his best friend thought so little of herself hurt more than anything. So, without even thinking, he kicked off his shoes, climbed onto the bed, and cuddled up behind her, wrapping an arm around her waist. She grabbed his hand and squeezed, letting him know it was okay.

"Thank you, Micah. For everything," Elsa said quietly.

"You're more than welcome. I hate to see you like this."

"It's okay. I'll be better eventually."

"I hope so. Now, let's just enjoy the quiet for a bit."


	13. Chapter 13 - Lakeside View

**Chapter 13**

 _Lakeside View_

It was the middle of April, and the spring showers were in full force. It was pouring daily, with the occasional break in the weather. But it never lasted long. However, it was Elsa's favorite weather. The dreary clouds, the smell of the rain, the chill in the air. The whole experience was amazing to her. But her favorite part was when the skies cleared up for just a short break. The wind would come alive then, and blow and whip her hair about. For some reason, it felt otherworldly to her. A real spiritual embrace by some greater power. Whatever that power was, she was thankful.

On Saturday, she was out with her friends at the mall just wandering around. They all had some money that their parents had given them, so they decided to go see what they could waste it on. None of the shops really interested them though. It was more just an excuse to get together and goof around. They didn't get to do that as much anymore. Not since Elsa started dating Jeremy.

That was becoming something of a drag to the others, but they didn't really voice their opinion about it much. It still wasn't nearly as bad as it had been with Kyle, and Elsa was doing her best to make sure that it stayed that way. There were a lot of times that Jeremy demanded Elsa spend time with him, and she had to tell him no so she could hang out with her friends. He had already come out and told her that he disliked her friends and felt they were a poor influence on her, but she basically told him to piss off. He was not pleased with that at all, and didn't speak to her for a week.

Thus she was spending the rainy afternoon with her friends. She didn't care, to be perfectly honest. Most of the time she preferred to hang out with her friends over spending time with Jeremy. Every now and then, however, he would smooth things over and she would let him pick her up and drive off to wherever. Micah didn't like it when she disappeared like that, but there was nothing he could do about it.

They had been at the mall for nearly an hour, doing little more than people watching and talking about nonsense. None of them wanted to head home, and could have easily spent the whole day there. So, instead of spending their money on clothes none of them really cared for – except for Rose buying a new Kill la Kill shirt at Hot Topic – they chose instead to hang out in the food court.

"Do you guys want to come over to my place after this? Maybe stay the night?" Elsa asked as she was sipping on a Pepsi she got from the Auntie Anne's only thirty feet away.

"Sure, why the hell not?" Kristoff said around a mouthful of pretzel.

"Do you want us to grab our laptops and stuff?" Micah asked.

"Sure. Maybe we can play some Diablo III, or Starcraft if you guys would prefer," Elsa said.

"Either one works," Rose replied. "But are you sure this will work out? What if Jeremy decides to stop by?"

"He won't. He's too pissed at me. So to hell with him."

"I still don't understand why you're dating the guy. All you two do is fight. Then he makes some lame excuse to patch things up, and you fall for it every time," Micah said. He was starting to get worked up again.

"I don't expect you guys to understand. Besides, we don't always fight. He's nice a lot of the time. Just lately it's mostly been about you guys. He doesn't like me hanging out with any of you. Especially you, Micah."

"Yeah well, he can go fu-"

As if on cue, Elsa's phone began to ring. When she pulled it out of her purse, she frowned.

"Ugh. It's Jeremy."

"So? Don't answer it," Rose told her.

"If I don't he'll keep calling. Just give me a second."

Turning around and walking a little ways away from her friends, she decided to answer the call.

"Yes, Jeremy?"

 _"There you are. I was beginning to think you wouldn't pick up."_

"I almost didn't. What do you want?"

 _"Look, I'm sorry about earlier. I know the whole things with your friends pissed you off-"_

"Gee, you think?"

 _"Yes, I do. Why don't you get ready and I'll come pick you up. I'm going to take you to dinner."_

"Jeremy, I'm not even home. I'm out with my friends. Right now, I am not in the mood for this crap."

 _"So you're going to pick your friends over me? Is that how this is?"_

"Right now, yes. I'm actually having _fun,_ Jeremy. Something you have forgotten all about."

 _"That is most certainly not true."_

"When was the last time we did something fun as couple?"

 _"Last weekend, before you got all indignant about your friends."_

"No, watching you and your friends play some sports game on the TV is not 'fun' for me. That wasn't a couples thing at all."

 _"Sure it was. The other guys brought their girlfriends."_

"And they were bored out of their minds too. They were all standing around in the kitchen gossiping. That's how bored they were."

 _"That's what women do, Elsa. They gossip. Guys play and watch sports, women talk amongst themselves about silly nonsense. You would know this if you actually tried."_

"That is a load of bull and you know it. I am not like that, and you knew that going into this. Since we have been together you have not once considered my feelings about anything. I'm starting to think you don't give a damn about me."

 _"That's not true at all. You know I care. I love you."_

Elsa's heart stopped for the briefest of moments, and she froze. She had no idea how to act or feel right then.

"What did you say?"

 _"That I love you."_

"You love me?"

 _"Yes. Why do you think I buy you all that nice stuff."_

"Well, um, I don't know. I never really considered that to be the reason."

 _"You think it was all just charity? Elsa, I wouldn't have bought any of it for just anyone."_

"Then why do you treat me the way you do?"

 _"Because I care that you are throwing your life away. Every time we argue, it's because you have some silly notion about the way I do things. You can't be doing that if you want to succeed. I do all this because it's what's best for us."_

"You mean losing your temper and driving off, leaving me stranded? Or telling me my friends are worthless and are going to ruin my life? Or that my house is so small that you can't believe people live there?"

 _"You took all of that way out of context. I left you only because you were being horribly irrational, and I wasn't in the right state of mind to handle that. But I apologized for it. I want to see you surround yourself with friends that are successful and will make you the best woman that you can be. These friends of yours aren't go-getters. You are. And it's not that your house is too small, it's that I can offer you so much more."_

"People don't do that to the ones they love, Jeremy. You really hurt me."

 _"Look, I'm sorry. Your feelings matter to me, you know that. Now why don't you go home, get dressed up in that white dress I bought you with the jewelry I really like, and get ready to go out to dinner."_

Elsa bit her bottom lip as she thought it over. Then she looked back over her shoulder to her friends and sighed.

"Fine. I'll have to cancel my plans with my friends then. They're not going to be happy about it."

 _"That's what I wanted to hear. And your friends will get over it. I'll be at your house by 6 pm to pick you up. Be ready when I get there. I don't want to have to wait."_

Then the line went dead. Elsa felt guilty instantly, and slowly walked back over to her friends, who were watching her intently.

"Change of plans guys. Jeremy is taking me out to dinner."

"You have got to be kidding me!" Micah exclaimed angrily.

"Elsa, this is starting to become a problem," Rose added, almost as annoyed as Micah.

"I know, I feel guilty as it is. But he was being really sweet and apologized for how he acted," Elsa explained.

"How is forcing you to ditch us yet again him being 'sweet'?" Kristoff asked.

"It's hard to explain. It's complicated with him. You have to handle him a certain way, otherwise he gets angry. I try my best no to anger him."

"It seems like all that happens with you two is fighting, so I don't really see that working," Micah said.

"Micah is right. But even worse than that is he is trying to separate us like usual. Every time we get together and try to make plans, he calls you up and talks you into bailing," Rose added.'

"Look, you guys don't understand what it's like to be in a relationship. You have to make compromises. Right now, this is my compromise," Elsa said, slightly defensive.

"What, we're your compromise? That is bullshit Elsa. You promised it wouldn't be this way," Micah said, nearly shouting.

"What do you want me to do? I can't call and cancel on him now!"

"Why not? You just canceled on us."

"You guys are being horribly unfair."

"No, Elsa, you are. You're blowing us off yet again to appease Jeremy and his irrational attitude towards us. He forces you to cancel on us every opportunity he gets, and you let him," Kristoff said, pointing his finger at her.

"Sweetie, listen. We have been your friends for a long time now. Micah even longer than us. We should matter to you on some level. We have gone out of our way every time we can to spend time with you, and you have stopped giving us the same respect," Rose added. She was crossing her arms and leaning back against a partition near the table.

"Like I said, you guys don't understand. I have to do this. Plus, he said he loves me."

Silence. That's all there was. All three of them looked absolutely stupefied.

"He said _what_?" Micah asked incredulously.

"He said he loves me."

"Elsa, this has to be a joke."

"Does it look like I'm laughing?"

"Do you honestly believe he means it?" asked Rose.

"I-I don't know. I guess?"

"And how do you feel about him?"

"I'm not sure. I don't even know what love is. I mean, I don't really feel much of anything right now. Even when he kisses me it's not much. I don't dislike it, but there still is nothing there. No magic or anything. Maybe this is just how it's supposed to be."

"Do you honestly believe that, Elsa?" Kristoff asked.

"I don't know what to believe," Elsa said as she wrapped her arms around herself. "All I know is he spends a lot of money and time on me, so I need to show him what it means to me. Even if it's not much."

After that, she called her mother and walked out towards the front of the mall, alone. It was still raining outside, but she didn't care. She didn't even bother putting up her hoodie. The skies were cold and gray, which matched perfectly with her mood. What she really wanted to do was spend the evening with her friends killing the Zerg, but she was instead forced to go to a dinner she didn't really want. She felt obligated, of course, but it wasn't what she wanted at all.

00000

That night, he picked her up right at 6 pm, and she made sure to be ready. She didn't want to upset him by being late. He had made reservations at some upscale Italian restaurant named Pista Bellezza. Elsa had no idea what it meant, but it sounded pretty.

The place was enormous on the inside, and it was relatively crowded. Everyone was dressed fancy, and even though her dress was relatively expensive, she still felt underdressed for the occasion. There were a bunch of tables off to one side that were clearly for larger parties, but for the most part they were smaller, intimate tables for couples and small families. It didn't seem like anything special, but since you could only get in by reservation, she assumed that it had to be somewhat special.

As soon as they were greeted by the maître de, they were shown to a small table off to the side by a window looking out over the street outside. It wasn't the best view in the world, but it was better than staring at a blank wall. The restaurant sat on a corner, so customers got to look out onto the main road and watch the people passing by. Elsa didn't mind that. She liked to watch the traffic drive by.

Once they were seated and had their menus, Elsa was looking it over trying to decide what actually sounded appetizing. Most of the dishes she didn't know, so she stuck to the ones she did. She ended up with one of the alfredo dishes, which was perfectly fine to her.

The waiter arrived a few minutes later and took Jeremy's order, then turned to Elsa who was still browsing the menu.

"Have you decided yet, babe?" Jeremy eventually asked, sounding a little impatient as usual.

"Yeah, I think so. I'll just have the chicken alfredo, please," she said meekly.

The waiter wrote down her order and bowed before leaving, which Elsa thought they only did in the movies. Jeremy had this sly grin on his face but it seemed more amused than anything.

"Are you having a good time?" he asked her.

"Um, I guess so. I mean, I've never been to this fancy of a restaurant before."

"Well, perhaps I should bring you here more often. The lights give you this kind of glow, and I like it."

Elsa blushed a little, and looked out the window to keep from staring at him. "Thanks. What made you decide to come here?"

"Well, we've been together for about six months, so I figured should do something special. I mean, I do love you after all."

"Yeah, you said that. I still don't see how. I'm nothing special. Besides, like you said, we've only been together for six months. That's hardly long enough."

"I disagree. I've had feelings for you for a little while now. I just didn't know how or when to tell you."

"Oh. Um, I don't know what to say."

"Just tell me you love me."

"But I-"

"Just three little words. That's all you have to say."

"I don't know, Jeremy... I mean, it hasn't really been all that long," Elsa said, flustered.

"Say it." He was getting impatient again.

Letting out a sigh, Elsa looked him in the eyes. "I love you, too."

"Excellent. Tonight, you can come back to my place and we can have some of my father's champagne to celebrate."

"No, I'm going home after this. I have a bunch of homework that I have to do."

"It can wait until tomorrow."

"No, it really can't, Jeremy. I am not about to fall behind in my classes. If my grades start to slip, then my GPA dips down. I can't have that."

Jeremy's demeanor changed slightly, and he shifted himself in his seat. He had that look on his face that he expected her to obey him.

"No, you are going to come with me after we eat. I didn't bring you out to dinner so you can bail on me after."

"Jeremy, I can't-"

"Do not start that crap with me! We are going out and that's it," he said angrily.

"...Fine," she replied, clearly getting annoyed with him.

Dinner was spent mostly in silence, and Elsa barely touched her food. She kept getting stares from Jeremy, but she didn't really care. The food was probably great, but it tasted like ash in her mouth. There was anger growing in the center of her belly, and she ignored him as much as she could. At one point, she pulled out her phone to check for messages, and that was enough to anger him further.

"Don't you dare do that here," he said quietly and menacingly. "If you get on that phone, I will backhand you. You can talk to your friends once I drop you off."

"Then take me home. Now. I don't want to go out with you after this. I'm pissed off and you're being an ass."

There was a flash of rage across his face, but he managed to calm himself.

"I have a better idea. I'll take you somewhere special. Just the two of us, away from all of this. We can sit and talk."

"I don't want to."

"Yes, you really do. Trust me on this."

"Where is it?"

"It's a surprise."

After a few more minutes of coaxing her, Jeremy called over the waiter for their check so he could pay. Once that was taken care of, he took Elsa by the hand and led her back out to the parking lot. As she got into the car, Elsa got a text message on her phone. Before she could check it, Jeremy took her purse from her and threw it in the back seat.

"Get in," he instructed her.

Soon they were on the road and were headed to the outskirts of town. Elsa had only been this way during the daytime, mostly when her mother had some errands to run. At night it looked completely different. Almost eerie. Then they turned off onto a dirt road that ran behind an old warehouse. When they eventually came to a stop, Elsa's jaw dropped.

The view was incredible. They had wound their way up to a hill that looked out over the lake just on the outskirts of town. Though it had been drizzling all day long, the illumination from the city on the opposite side reflected off the rippling water, creating the illusion of dancing lights. The rain had let up while they were at dinner, and the moon had managed to poke through tiny breaks in the clouds.

"Impressive view, isn't it?" Jeremy asked her with a smirk.

"Jeremy, how did you find this spot?" Elsa asked in return.

"My dad told me about it. Said it's really romantic. What do you think?"

"It's a gorgeous view. And the city lights reflecting off of it is amazing."

"So I take it you like it."

"Yes, I do."

"Excellent."

Without warning, Jeremy lifted Elsa's head by the chin, leaned in and kissed her full on the lips. She was taken by surprise, but she had grown used to his kisses. She still didn't feel much when he did it, but it was sort of a nice gesture. So, she decided to lean into it and kiss back. Just then, Elsa's phone began to ring.

Breaking the intimacy of the kiss, Elsa looked at the backseat towards her purse. "It's probably my mom. I should answer it."

"How about no," Jeremy said sternly.

"No? Why?"

"Because I'm not done with you," he said with a chuckle, leaning back down to connect their lips once more.

Elsa decided to let the phone go to voicemail, and continued to kiss Jeremy. She really didn't know why, it's not like it did anything for her. She just knew it was something you were supposed to do in a relationship. Suddenly, his tongue slid across her lips, begging for permission to slip inside. For no real reason, she obliged and their tongues met. But then she felt a hand slide up her arm, then move slowly over to her breast, and she panicked.

"Jeremy, what the hell!?" she yelled in surprise.

"What?"

"What do you think you're doing? That is totally not okay!"

"Oh really."

"Yes, really. Now take me home."

For whatever reason, this pissed him off more than anything else she had said that evening. Gripping the steering wheel as tightly as possible, he clenched his jaw and stared at her.

"Why are you acting like such a bitch tonight?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"I'm not! You're acting like an asshole, and I'm sick of it! Now take me home!"

Suddenly, he reached towards her and slapped her across the face as hard as he could. She let out a yelp of pain, and he started screaming at her.

"You do not talk to me that way! Ever! After everything I have done for you, you ungrateful little bitch! You do not ever, ever talk to me like that ever again!"

Elsa was crying and holding her cheek, staring at him wide-eyed and full of terror. When she opened her mouth to plead with him, he slapped her again. And again. And again. He slapped her several more times until she was in so much pain she couldn't see straight. She was crying and sobbing loudly, and she was curled up in a ball in the passenger seat of the car. Her arms were up defensively in case he tried hitting her again. But luckily, he stopped.

Then the car roared to life, and Jeremy hit the gas as hard as he could as he turned the car around. Then they were back on the main road, and he was driving like a maniac. He zipped in and out of traffic, going as fast as he could possibly manage with the Saturday night congestion. When they came to a stop at a red light, he looked over at her and saw she was still cowering.

"Elsa, I hate it when you do this. You see how angry you make me? I can't control myself when I get that way. You need to be more careful in the future so this doesn't happen again. Alright? I don't like hurting the woman I love."

She didn't say a word. She was leaning into the door, holding onto the handle as if her life depended on it. Her hand was deathly white from her grip, and she was doing the best she could to remain calm. Unfortunately, the way he was talking was only making her feel guilty.

Soon they were outside her house, and as she went to grab her purse from the back seat, Jeremy caught her face with his hand and kissed her. This time, she pulled away and whimpered, then was out of the car as fast as humanly possible.

Rolling down the window of the passenger side door, Jeremy leaned down to look out of it and called at her. "I'll see you Monday at school, babe." Then, he sped off.

Elsa was standing at the door fumbling with her keys when the door swung open. On the other side was Anna, who looked a little worried the moment she saw her sister's face.

"Elsa, is everything okay?" Anna asked quietly.

Elsa only shook her head, then tried to walk past her.

"Elsa, look at me, please. What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it, Anna. Please, just let me go to my room."

With a sigh, Anna let her past, but followed her up to her room. As soon as they were inside, Anna closed the door and turned on her sister.

"Okay, talk. I'm not buying this crap. You're talking about it. Now."

"Anna, I really don't-"

"Elsa, do you want me to go get mom? Because right now, I can see the extra large hand prints on your face. Now, tell me how that got there or I'm getting mom."

Flopping down on her bed, Elsa shrugged and sort of waved her hands a little, gesturing that she didn't know what to say. "Jeremy and I had a fight. Dinner sucked, he was acting like an ass, and then instead of bringing me home like I wanted he drove us out to an overlook above the lake. It was beautiful, and at first I thought he was sorry for how he acted. But then he started kissing me, and then grabbed me," she demonstrated with her hand where he had groped her. "I didn't like it, freaked out at him, and then he, um..."

"Then he hit you. And pretty hard too from the looks of it."

"...Yeah."

"Elsa, why are you putting up with this guy?" Anna asked. "All you two do is fight, he treats you like crap, and now he's hitting you. You are so lucky I am not running to tell mom right this second. The cops could easily get involved."

"I know, but what can I do? I owe him so much for everything he's done."

"What has he done besides buy you a bunch of crap you don't even like?"

"Well, he can be very sweet when he wants to be. He takes me places and does nice things for me."

"But then he does _this._ Is this really worth it?"

"I... Don't know."

"I'm not going to tell you what to do, but if I were you I would seriously reconsider this relationship. It's clearly toxic, and all it's doing is making you miserable and pushing your friends further away. Oh, and yes, I know about you canceling your plans with them. That was pretty low, Elsa. You ditched them for a guy that hits you. Think about that."

Before Elsa could reply, Anna walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. She had no idea what to say or do. Her sister was absolutely right on all of it. But she had no idea how to handle it. She didn't want to just break up with him, because that didn't seem like the answer. So, she did the one thing she knew she had to do.

Picking up the phone, Elsa called the one person that would have the answer. She decided to call Rose. As soon as the phone rang it was picked up, and she could hear her friend answer on the other end.

 _"Elsa, what's up?"_

"I need help."

 _"What's wrong, sweetie? Why do you sound so sad? You sound like you've been crying."_

"It's Jeremy. He, um, he has anger issues and I don't know how to deal with them."

 _"Anger issues? Like what? What did he do?"_

"Can you keep a secret?" Elsa asked as quietly as she could.

 _"Yes, you know I can. What did Jeremy do?"_

"Jeremy, he, um, he..."

 _"Elsa, out with it."_

"He hit me."

 _"... He what."_

"He hit me. A bunch."

 _"What the hell, Elsa!? Why the hell did he do that!?"_

"We were arguing, and he got really angry because I told him to bring me home. We were sort of making out in his car, and he started groping me, and when I told him to stop he..."

 _"Oh my god, Elsa. Are you okay?"_

"Not really."

 _"Okay, what do you want me to do? It's only 8:30 pm. I can get my stuff and come over, no problem. Wait, have you told Micah yet?"_

"No! And he can never know, Rose! Ever!"

 _"Elsa, this is the biggest mistake you have ever made. Not telling him is going to eat you alive, and you already have that problem with your feelings for him. Adding this to that is going to be the death of you."_

"Please, don't tell him. I'm begging you!"

 _"I don't know if I can keep this one from him. I've sworn to never tell him about your feelings, but this is something else entirely. He is going to find out somehow, you know that right? He always does."_

"Not right now then. Okay? Please?"

 _"Fine. But you are telling him, and soon. I will not be letting you do this to yourself. Now then, I'll be over in fifteen minutes. I've already got my things together."_

00000

"Okay, this is way worse than I thought, Els," Rose said as she was examining her friend's face. The mark on Elsa's face was massive, and it was already starting to bruise. Rose clicked her tongue in disgust.

"How bad is it?" Elsa asked. She was wincing at Rose's touch on her cheek.

"Bad. There's going to be a massive bruise on your face. I have no idea how you're going to hide this thing. Even with all the concealer in the world it's going to be difficult. This is exactly why I told you to tell Micah."

"I can't. Not yet. Besides, Jeremy apologized to me on the way here. He seemed really sincere about it."

"Oh really. And what did he say to justify this exactly?" Rose asked snidely.

"He said that he didn't mean to get so angry, and that I can't go and piss him off like that because he can't control himself. So really, this is my fault," Elsa said. It sounded like she actually believed it, and deep down, she actually did.

"Girl, are you stupid? There is no excuse for this. He's trying to pass the blame off on you. I promise you that you are most certainly not at fault here."

"Are you sure?" Elsa asked skeptically.

"Elsa, there is no reason that it is okay for him to do this. None. Do you hear me?"

"Yeah, but-"

"No buts. What he did was horribly wrong. Why the hell are you still with him?" Rose asked angrily.

"I.. Don't know. But, I was really stupid."

"You mean more so than letting him do this to you?"

"I told him I loved him," Elsa admittedly nervously.

With that, Rose smacked Elsa upside the back of the head. Elsa yelped out loud, mostly due to the unexpected action by her friend than any real pain.

"What the hell was that for?" Elsa asked as she rubbed the back of her head.

"For telling that son of a bitch that you love him! I know full well that you don't."

"I don't know what I feel. I mean, he is nice to me a lot of the time..."

"No. Do not try and justify this shit. Elsa, I am telling you right now. You need to break up with him. Then you need to suck it up and tell Micah how you feel before it's too late."

"What do you mean, 'before it's too late'?" Elsa asked with her eyebrows scrunched together.

"Ugh, you are so stupid that you frustrate me sometimes."

"That doesn't explain what you meant."

"It means you are letting Micah slip through your fingers and you don't even realize it. To hell with your inhibitions and tell the boy how you feel!" Rose yelled.

"I can't, Rose! If I do-"

"Yeah, you'll lose him as a friend, blah, blah, blah. Have you ever stopped to think that maybe, just maybe, he might have feelings for you too?"

"No. If he did he would have told me so."

"You mean like how you've told him?"

"Shut up."

"No, Elsa. I'm one hundred percent right on this one and you know it. There is a possibility that Micah may very well be doing the same thing you are. He could be hiding his feelings just like you because he is scared that you'll push him away. Did you ever stop to consider that that might be a possibility?"

"Not really, no," Elsa admitted meekly.

"Do you want me to smack you again?"

"Um, no."

"Then I want you to get on that phone, right now, and call him. Tell him you have to talk to him. I don't care where you talk or how, but you're doing it tonight. So pick that phone up and call his pasty white ass!"

"Rose-" Elsa began to whine.

"Do it. Now."

Rose picked up Elsa's phone, dialed Micah's number, and thrust the phone into her hand. The phone began to ring, and after several seconds it was answered.

 _"Hey Els. How did everything go?"_

"Rose, I can't do this!" Elsa hissed.

"Too bad. Get on that phone and tell him. _Now._ "

Elsa stared down at her phone, and began to sweat. Her heart was racing so fast that she thought it would beat itself out of her chest and splatter against the wall. There was a strange knot in the pit of her stomach, and her mouth was dry like a desert.

 _"Hello? I can hear you talking to someone."_

Placing the phone up to her ear, Elsa looked at her friend who had crossed her arms and had a look on her face telling Elsa that there were no more excuses. She was absolutely petrified.

"Um, Micah?" she said shakily.

 _"Yeah?"_

"We, uh, we need to talk."


	14. Chapter 14 - Revelation

**Chapter 14**

 _Revelation_

"Why are you doing this to me?" Elsa whined for the umpteenth time in the last ten minutes.

Rose simply rolled her eyes and shook her head, ignoring the blonde's crying. "You're doing this and that's that."

"But why?"

"Because you deserve to be happy, and so does he. That's why."

They were meeting Micah at a park nearby, since it was in between where they lived. It was nearly 9:30 pm, so the park was technically closed. It didn't have a gate or anything, but they didn't want to get into trouble either. The best part was it only took them a couple minutes to get there.

The rain had started back up again, though it was still only a light drizzle rather than the downpour it had been that afternoon. It was sort of fitting for what Elsa had to do, really. It masked everything in this dewy coat that was somewhat soothing under the right circumstances. Unfortunately, these weren't those circumstances at all.

They got to the park around 9:35 pm and waited under a wooden canopy that covered several picnic tables. Rose sat down on top of one of the tables and kicked her feet, patiently waiting for her friend to just do what she needed to do. Elsa was busy pacing back and forth, wringing her hands and on the verge of hyperventilating. Her mind and heart were racing, thinking over all the things she would have to say. Odds were that a deluge of nonsense and ramblings would pour out of her mouth and she'd just scare the hell out of him that way. She didn't think she could control it either.

"Elsa, relax. It'll be fine," Rose said, making an effort to calm her friend.

"I'm trying! I can't go through with this, Rose! What if he says no? What if he tells me he has no feelings for me? What if he stops being my friend? I can't handle that!" Elsa said in a panic.

"You're being ridiculous. You know full well he won't stop being your friend. The rest of it, well, you'll have to wait and see. But I can promise you it won't scare him away."

"You don't know Micah like I do. If I tell him that he is the love of my life, it will freak him out and send him running! I can't do this!"

"Girl, how god damn stupid are you? Do you honestly believe that Micah would do that? That he would run away from, how did he put it, 'the most beautiful girl on the planet'?"

"I... don't know. Okay? I don't know anything right now! All I know is in just a couple minutes I'm going to ruin my life for good, and it's all because you won't let me keep my feelings to myself!"

"I'm so close to smacking the shit out of you! If Jeremy hadn't already done that, that's exactly what I'd be doing! Get yourself together! That boy is not, I repeat, is _not_ going to run away from you!"

Off in the distance, they could hear the screeching of tires, but they didn't pay it much attention. The air was thick and still, albeit chilly and humid. The rain started to pick up, and there was a miniature waterfall running down the side of the canopy. It was mostly quiet otherwise.

"Where the hell is he?" Rose asked, not really expecting an answer.

Elsa kept pacing back and forth, unable to stand still for any length of time. Her breathing was becoming more and more ragged, and suddenly her chest felt like it was on fire. Quickly she headed for the table and leaned against it, gasping for air.

"Oh my god, Elsa! Come on, girl, calm down! You cannot be doing this right now! Come on, deep breaths!"

Coughing and choking on air, Elsa shook her head and groaned. "I can't do it!" she said with a throaty cough.

Just then Elsa's phone began to buzz, and she fumbled with her purse to pull it out.

"It's Micah. What do I do?" she asked, panic rising once more.

"Just answer it, dork. But calm down."

Sliding her finger across the screen, she timidly placed it up to her ear so she could answer it.

"Hey. Where are you?"

 _"Help..."_

"Micah? Micah!"

The line went dead. For some reason, a sense of dread washed over her and a shiver shot up her spine. She frantically started to dial Micah's number again, but he wouldn't answer. She did this several more times, each time getting more and more upset.

"Calm down, Elsa," Rose said. "You don't want to do this to Micah. He doesn't need this right now."

"He's not answering! Why isn't he answering!?" Elsa yelled in a panic.

"I don't know. What did he say?"

"He said 'help'! I don't know why! What the hell happened?"

"No clue. Do you want to head to his place?"

"Yeah, let's do that," Elsa said instantly, vehemently nodding her head.

Off they went, Elsa in panic mode and walking as fast as her legs would carry her. Rose was having trouble keeping up. She kept that pace the whole way, looking down every alley and every street they crossed. He lived roughly seven or eight minutes away from the park, and that was if he was running or riding his bike. So they had a little ways to go.

"Why would he say that, Rose? Why!?" Elsa asked. "He has never done this! Ever!"

"Elsa, chill out. It's probably nothing."

Just then, they saw several flashing lights zoom by, with the wail of an ambulance close behind.

"Probably nothing? Are you insane!? Who the hell calls someone and says 'help' when it's nothing!?"

They turned down another street, passing by a 7-11 and a liquor store. The rain was starting to come down harder, and both of them were soaked to the bone.

"Okay, maybe it's something. But I wouldn't panic until we figure out what."

Up ahead they saw the ambulance and police cars from earlier. There was a car wrapped around a telephone poll, and the EMTs were lifting someone onto a gurney. As they drew closer, they got a clear shot of who it was, and Elsa's stomach sank.

"Oh God, please tell that it isn't him..." Elsa begged as she broke into a run.

Rose was hot on her tail, and as soon as they were within a few feet of the accident, one of the officers had to keep them back. There was a look of dread on Elsa's face as they carried a battered and bloody Micah into the ambulance.

"Can we ride with him? Please!? He's our friend!" Elsa was pleading with the officer, but unfortunately he shook his head and had to escort her a little bit away from the accident.

"You know him?" the officer asked them.

"Yeah. His name is Micah Aldrin. He's our friend and was supposed to meet up with us. Please, tell me he's going to be okay!"

"We don't know what condition he's in. But you girls need to head home. Have your parents take you to the hospital to meet with him when it's okay."

Before the officer had managed to walk back to the others, Elsa already had her phone out and was calling Micah's mother.

 _"Hello?"_

"Jenny, it's Elsa!"

 _"Elsa, hi sweetheart. Is everything okay?"_

"No, it's Micah. He, uh, he's..."

 _"What? What about Micah? Did something happen?"_

Elsa was in tears, trying her best not to freak out on the phone.

"He got hurt really badly, and they're, uh, they're taking him to the hospital. I think he got hit by a car, because there's a wreck here and he was lying on the ground and...I'm scared!"

 _"Elsa, where are you right now? I will come and get you."_

"Outside the 7-11 on Emmet Drive. He looked really bad, Jenny. I, um, I don't know what to do!"

 _"Wait right there. I'll come get you."_

Elsa put away her phone and began to cry. Wrapping her arms around herself, she leaned against the side of the building and fell to the ground. She wept harder than she ever had in her life, and was so terrified for her friend that she could hardly think straight. Rose stood there and had her hands in her pockets, and stared down at the ground. Both had a morose expression on their face, and the rain matched perfectly with the mood.

Then Elsa's phone began to ring, but she didn't really care. She almost ignored it, but then thought it might be Jenny. When she fished it back out of her purse, she saw it was the last person she wanted to deal with right then. But she answered it anyway.

"What the hell do you want, you bastard?"

 _"Is that anyway to talk to your boyfriend?"_

"I do not want to speak to you. At all. Now go to hell."

 _"Don't you dare talk to me like that. I have warned you repeatedly. You better start showing me some respect."_

"You don't know the first thing about respect, Jeremy. Now then, I have something going on, and I'm going to hang up. I don't want to speak to you or see you for a very long time. Do not call me again."

 _"Elsa, wait-"_

She didn't wait to let him finish. With the mood she was in, she nearly threw her phone across the street into a large puddle. The only reason she didn't was because she knew she was going to be making several more phone calls that night. The most important one being to her mother, who had no idea what was going on.

That could wait, though. For the time being, she just wanted to sit in the rain and cry. After a few minutes, Rose took a seat next to her and began rubbing her back. Elsa's body was wracked with spasms from her weeping and sobbing, and the longer they sat there the worse it got.

"I'm sorry, Els," Rose said apologetically. "I don't know what to say. This wasn't supposed to happen. You were supposed to get together, confess your love for one another, and be happy. Not this nightmare."

"It's okay, Rose," Elsa replied, sniffling and coughing. "I don't blame you. I blame myself. I should have never called him this late. It should have just waited until morning. Or just not have happened. I mean, what the hell am I doing? I'm taking a chance at ruining the best relationship I've ever had with another person. Micah being my best friend is more than I can ever ask for, and I got greedy."

"No. Don't you start acting like that. The two of you deserve to be with each other. One way or another, I'm going to get you two together. Come hell or high water."

Elsa let out a snicker and shook her head. "Why are you so concerned for what happens to us? Why do you want us together so badly?"

"Because it's fate. I mean, what were the odds that the two of you would meet in kindergarten, become best friends, and become practically inseparable? Then you went and developed feelings for each o-" Rose had to cut herself off.

"Huh?"

"Nothing."

"No, you were about to say something."

"It doesn't matter."

"Yes, it does."

"Right now, what matters is making sure Micah is okay."

They waited nearly ten minutes before Jenny pulled into the parking lot. As soon as the car was stopped they jumped in and sped off. On the way, the girls explained everything that had happened, minus the part about Elsa confessing her love for Micah. She didn't think Jenny needed to know that just yet. But everything else was spilled out in the car ride to the hospital.

The drive there was the second longest car ride Elsa had ever been on. The last time she was there, she was in the back of a police squad car being escorted to the ER to be examined by some stranger because of what her father did. She had never expected that she'd have to make the trip a second time. This time, though, it was a matter of life and death for her best friend.

It took nearly twenty-five minutes to get to the hospital. It seemed like they hit every red light on the way there, and the road was busy for a Saturday night. The rain didn't help matters any, reducing visibility by quite a bit. There was water over the roadway everywhere, causing them to hydroplane slightly. Jenny was doing her best to keep calm and not go too fast, but there was a real sense of urgency to get there as fast as humanly possible. It just seemed that God and the elements wanted to make them suffer by forcing them go as slow as they physically could.

While they were sitting in traffic, Elsa was on the phone with her mother telling her everything that had happened. Melissa told her that she and Anna would meet them at the hospital as soon as they could. That was a comfort, at least. When she called Kristoff, he was half asleep until Elsa told him the story. He asked if Rose knew, and when Elsa told him that she was with Rose, he said he'd talk to his parents about heading down to the hospital soon. It didn't sound like it would happen until morning though.

As soon as they were parked they were out of the car and heading to the entrance of the ER. It was rather busy for being so late, and there was another ambulance bringing in a new patient. A stabbing victim from what they heard the EMTs say. It wasn't Micah, so Elsa didn't pay much attention to it. They checked in at the nurse's station, only to find that Micah was currently being cleaned up and with the doctor on staff. She had no idea how long it would take, but she said that they could wait in the lobby until it was okay to see him, and someone would come and get them.

Nearly a half an hour passed by, and no word on what Micah's condition was. One of the nurses did stop by and check to make sure Jenny was his mother and to have some preliminary paperwork taken care of. It was mostly things such as known allergies and other medical conditions he had, as well as insurance information. After that was done, it was back to waiting in silence for someone to inform them on what the hell was going on.

At around 10:45 pm, Melissa and Anna finally arrived and met them in the lobby. Everyone ended up hugging each other, and the girls decided to go find a soda machine so they could get away from the adults and talk.

"So, what exactly happened? Mom wouldn't tell me much," Anna asked as they headed into the cafeteria.

"Elsa called Micah because she was finally going to tell him how she feels about him," Rose began, "and we were supposed to meet up with him at Stuart Grove. He never showed up. After waiting a little bit Elsa gets this eerie call from Micah, and then we see all these police cars and an ambulance drive by. Then we took off and found the accident near his house. He hadn't gone more than two blocks."

"And that's when you called Jenny?"

"Yeah," Elsa said, not really paying much attention to the conversation.

"What about Jeremy? Did you break up with him yet?"

"No. I don't know if I will yet."

They finally found a machine that sold Pepsi, and Elsa started fumbling with the change in her purse.

"Why the hell not? Elsa, he has been nothing but a jerk to you. I mean, look at that bruise on your face!"

"It's complicated, Anna. I can't just leave him."

"Why?"

"I just can't."

"Then what were you planning on doing with Micah then? You can't be with both of them."

Sighing, Elsa rested her head against the cold surface of the vending machine and took a deep breath to calm her nerves. "I don't know. I guess it sort of depended on what Micah said. Besides, this wasn't my idea. Blame Rose for all of this."

"Hey, wait. I told you to make the call. I didn't tell you where to meet him or anything. But nobody is taking the blame for this. It was a complete accident," Rose said defensively.

"I wouldn't have had to call him if you would have just put the issue to rest. I'm not ready to tell Micah how I feel. I may never be ready."

"Well you're running out of time there, sweetie. How many times are you going to let that boy go before you decide you've had enough with the torment and pain?"

"I don't know. I guess until we aren't friends anymore."

"Elsa, that is not an option," Anna interrupted. "You love Micah, and guess what? There is a very good chance that he loves you. So stop being so stubborn and just do what needs to be done."

"How can you possibly know that he loves me."

"Do you honestly think that a boy like Micah would spend every waking moment that he can with a girl that's his best friend and not feel something? I might be younger than you, but I'm not stupid. But you were right. You are a mess if you honestly think that Jeremy is worth sticking with because you're too scared of your feelings for Micah."

"Why does everyone keep trying to hook me and Micah up!? It's never going to happen! We are best friends! That sort of thing doesn't happen! There is zero chance that he has any feelings for me anyway."

"And why is that?" Rose asked sarcastically.

"Because, there is nothing about me he can possibly love!"

There was silence for several seconds. Anna and Rose just stared at her, both looking like they wanted to smack her upside the head.

"What?" Elsa asked, registering the looks they were giving her.

"Wow Elsa, you are being really stupid right now," Anna said, placing her hands on her hips.

"I have to agree with the little squirt," Rose added. "I mean, you are acting like such a fool right now."

"Whatever. I'm done with this conversation. Now, I'm going to grab my drink, go back to the lobby, and wait to see Micah."

00000

They ended up waiting nearly two hours before Micah was stable enough for them to visit. He was still unconscious, and he looked like hell. His left arm was broken and mangled, his chest and head had gashes everywhere, and there were bruise marks all along his torso. It was enough to make Elsa tear up again. She couldn't do it again, though. Exhaustion had kicked in a long time ago, and she didn't know if her body could handle any more crying fits.

After a little bit of sitting around, Melissa took Rose and Anna to get some food. Jenny had stepped out for a minute to make a phone call, but with who Elsa had no idea. So, for a little bit it was just her and Micah. He was still out cold, but he was breathing on his own, which was a good sign. The only things hooked up to him were the heart monitor and the IV drip. It was still scary though.

Elsa was standing at the side of the bed, holding Micah's hand. She had been since they were allowed to see him. He looked like a real mess, and she kept beating herself up over making the phone call that got him into this predicament. Right now, she hated herself. But none of this would have happened if Jeremy hadn't made her cancel her plans with her friends and forced her to go to dinner with him.

It seemed that being with Jeremy had done nothing but cause problems for her. It had begun to create a rift between her and her friends, something she had promised would never happen again. But now it was almost too late. She had almost lost the most precious thing in her life. But things with Jeremy weren't all bad. He did spoil her a lot, and he could be really nice and sweet when he wanted to be. Besides, Elsa knew for certain that she and Micah would never end up together. So, she was resigned to be with Jeremy.

Looking down at the face of the boy she loved, Elsa began to cry. She couldn't help it any longer. Silent tears began to drip down her cheeks, and she leaned over the bed to get closer to him. Placing a hand on either side of his head, she lightly pressed her lips to his, tenderly kissing him for the briefest of moments. Then, she rested her forehead on his and let the tears flow.

"I am so sorry, sweetheart," she whispered. "This is all my fault. You're here because of me. All because of how I feel. I love you so much, and you'll never get to know. Just please, don't fade away on me."

When Elsa stood back up, she heard a cough come from behind her. As she whipped her head around, she saw Rose standing there smiling at her. Elsa was mortified.

"How long have you been there?" Elsa asked nervously.

"Pretty much the whole time," Rose said with a smirk. "But I am proud of you."

"For what? I didn't do anything."

"You finally told the love of your life how you feel. That's a big step."

"It's not like it matters any. He can't hear me."

"Maybe not, but you did do it. And now, with it practiced, you can do it when he's awake."

Elsa returned her gaze to Micah's sleeping form. She wasn't sure what to say next. "I... don't think I can."

"Elsa, he could have died. What would you have done then?"

"I would have died right there with him."

"Doesn't that tell you something? Think about it. Every time you have a nightmare, Micah is there. Every time things seem to go to hell, Micah is there. Every time you're lonely, Micah is there. Hell, he was there with you every step of the way when your father was still in your life, and even more so when he found out the truth. If you're too blind to see it, then I don't know what to tell you."

"What exactly are you saying? That Micah loves me? That's ridiculous."

"Is it, Elsa? Is it? He's the only one that can help you with your nightmares. When he's staying the night at your place, you don't have any. You've told me that yourself. Whenever something bad happens in your life, Micah is almost always the first one you go to, and he is at your house in an instant to help you feel better. The only time you don't go to him is when it involves Jeremy, all because you don't want him to flip out. How do you think he's going to react once he finds out that that son of a bitch hit you? And he will find out, because if you don't tell him, I will."

"Rose, that isn't fair."

"It's not fair to keep him in the dark either. Or to keep ditching him for that asshole of a boyfriend you have. Or to keep making excuses over and over as to why you won't just tell the poor bastard how you feel. That's what's not fair."

"Why do you care so much about us being together? Huh? What do you get out of it?"

"I get to see two of the people I care most about be happy. Because right now, neither of you are."

"I am not good enough for him. He deserves someone that will make him happy."

"And you can't be that person?"

"No."

Rose threw down her arms and let out a frustrated groan. "Oh my god, I can't believe you right now! You frustrate me to no end, Elsa!"

"How am I frustrating you? I'm telling you the truth!"

"Because you keep making these half-baked excuses as to why you can't be together! You are one of the smartest people I know, but you constantly make some of the dumbest decisions and mistakes I've ever seen someone make. I honestly don't know how you do it."

"It's not your decision to make. I am not telling him. I will never tell him. He deserves someone that can give him what he wants. What he needs. That person can't be me."

"Don't think I'm going to let this slip by. You are going to tell him sooner or later. Or I will. I can't sit by and idly watch you two keep playing this stupid game."

"What does that mean?"

"Don't be such a dumbass, Elsa. You know full well what it means."

"What game are we playing? What are you talking about?"

"You keep going on and on about your feelings for each other, but refuse to tell one another how you feel!"

As soon as she realized what she said, Rose fell silent. Her arms were crossed in front of her, and she had a very frustrated look on her face, but she realized she had screwed up.

"What did you say?" Elsa asked quietly.

"Nothing. Forget it."

"No, talk to me. What are you not telling me?"

"Forget it, Elsa. You're going to have to piece the puzzle together on your own. I've said my piece, and now I'm done. You figure it out from here."

Before she could turn around and walk back out towards the lobby, Elsa reached out and grabbed Rose by the arm.

"Wait! Please! Tell me what you know!" she begged.

"I can't, Elsa. I've already said far more than I ever should have."

"Please?"

"No. I am not betraying anyone's trust."

"I'm begging you! Please, just tell me!"

Turning back around, Rose ripped her arm from Elsa's grasp. "How have you not figured it out by now? Elsa, open your god damn eyes and take a look. The answer is right in front of you. You've been staring at it for nine years. You've known each other since you were six. Six, Elsa! You have been best friends the entire time. You spend every moment you can together. You play games together and hang out, even when it's just the two of you. You tutor him on his schoolwork so he can graduate with you. He has spent his whole life protecting you from bullies and assholes like Jeremy. He was willing to meet you at the park at 9:30 pm on a Saturday in the god damn rain just so you could talk, Elsa. What the hell does that tell you? What sign could that possibly be? I mean, you are teetering on the edge and about to go over because you are so blind by your fear that you won't see the truth."

Elsa stood there, hugging herself tightly. She had the look of contemplation on her face, and the gears in her head were turning. Everything Rose had said was finally starting to sink in. Finally, the lights were beginning to turn on.

"Micah...actually loves me. He truly loves me. Oh my god, how did I not realize that?"

"Because you have been too damn scared of your own shadow, Elsa," Rose exclaimed. "You have been so timid and shy your whole life, and after everything that has happened to you, you've been too afraid to let anyone in. Except for Micah. You let him in. But you have been treated so poorly that you have come to believe that you are worthless. I am you friend, and even though I'm not your best friend, as much as I would like to be, I can honestly tell you that you are far from worthless. You are a wonderful human being. I mean, you cried over the burial of a rat! Most people feed them to snakes. You cried because he was your pet for three and a half years. You have so much love to give, and I feel it every time we hang out. I know you love all three of us, even if it's not in the same way as you do Micah. But it's there. And you care what happens to us. Like our education. You are trying your best to make damn sure that we graduate on time with you. The only real issue anyone has with you is that you are a pushover. You let Jeremy walk all over you, and force you to ditch us so he can have you all to himself. Please tell me you guys aren't having sex."

"Rose, I didn't like him trying to grope me. No, we are not having sex. We barely kiss."

"Thank God for small miracles. At least I don't have to worry about you sleeping with the bastard."

"Please, give me some credit. I'm not like that. Even after what my father did, I still have some dignity."

"So, what do you plan on doing now?"

With a glance back at Micah, Elsa lightly shook her head and shrugged. "I don't know. For now, I'll let him rest and get better. Then I guess I'll tell him when he's feeling alright. Probably after he goes home."

"Are you really going to do it? You're not just saying you will then back out at the last second?" Rose asked, looking at her suspiciously.

Drawing herself up to stand as tall as she could, Elsa held her head high for the first time in a very long time. "I will. You were right. I can't do this anymore. I'm tired of hiding my feelings from him, and if he truly does love me, then it's time to set things right."

"That's what I wanted to hear. I hope that everything works out for you."

"Yeah, me too."


	15. Chapter 15 - The Great Divide

**Chapter 15**

 _The Great Divide_

It was nearly a week before Micah was able to go home. The wait was mostly due to the fact that the doctor wanted his arm to set in place long enough for them place it in a cast. He had gauze and bandage wrap all across his chest and arms, his legs miraculously having received the least damage from the accident. His face was bruised and swollen, and likely would be for some time, but luckily the cuts and scrapes weren't nearly as bad as his chest was. The doctor said that the damage could have been a lot worse, and that he was lucky to be alive.

Elsa had made sure that she was the first person he saw when he woke up. It was in the late afternoon on Sunday when he finally came to, and the first thing he did when he saw her was smile. She did her best to give him the gentlest hug she could manage, which still caused him to wince in pain. He didn't mind though. It was Elsa, and he was willing to go through the worst pain imaginable just to see her.

On the day he was able to leave, he was picked up in Melissa's SUV since it was so spacious. Elsa made sure to sit in the back seat with him, and for the first time since they were little, she held his hand. The best part was, she managed to do it without blushing or feeling embarrassed. When her mother glanced at them in the rear view mirror, she noticed and smiled. Elsa was actually smiling and being open, which she hadn't really seen in a long time.

Before they got home, they had to stop at the pharmacy and pick up a few prescriptions for him. Namely ointments and painkillers. They had to change his bandages several times a day for the first few weeks, at least until everything started to heal over. Elsa had offered to stay at Micah's for a week or so in order to help take care of him. To her surprise, both of their mothers said it was fine. The only thing she wouldn't do is help him bathe or use the restroom. There were certain lines she just couldn't cross.

Things between her and Jeremy were still unresolved. She hadn't spoken to him all week, and at school she avoided him entirely. Every time he approached her, she shot him the cold, dead stare that she had perfected with her father. Even in all of his arrogance, Jeremy knew better than to approach her when she was like that. After the first couple of days, he gave up. This made her incredibly happy, because she still hadn't forgiven him for what he did to her. Even Rose was impressed.

The only thing that Elsa wasn't prepared for was the questions she got about the bruise on her face. Micah saw it right away and was concerned, and even her mother noticed it and asked about it. She just told them she wasn't ready to talk about it, which she knew sent up red flags immediately. She also knew that if she didn't come clean to Micah about it soon, Rose would. The thing was, Elsa wasn't sure if she really cared if Rose did. It would probably make it easier for her, but then Micah would be pissed that she just didn't tell him to begin with. The last thing she wanted was her best friend angry with her.

The following week of school was a bit different. Micah was finally back, but he still had no idea about the abuse Elsa had gone through. She also didn't tell any of her friends about what happened the next weekend after Micah went home.

Jeremy had finally talked her into going somewhere with him so he could make up for what he did, even though he kept reminding her that she needed to be more careful and respectful of him. While they were out on Saturday, he took her back to that spot above the lake. This time, the night sky was clear and the moon cast it's light across the water. Elsa was so captivated by it that she allowed Jeremy to do things to her she never let anyone do. She mostly didn't really care. They ended up having sex in the back seat of his car. None of it made her feel good, and in fact brought back memories of her father, but she almost didn't care about that. It kept playing over and over in her mind that she was at fault, that she deserved it, and that if she fought it it would just get worse.

So when Micah had finally returned to school, Elsa made sure to keep that to herself. Not even Rose knew of it. She didn't want anyone to know about what she had been doing. She also felt ashamed that she didn't go through with what she had promised Rose she would do. The idea of telling Micah still scared the hell out of her, and with Jeremy back to treating her so well, she figured it was for the best. Then, just when she was about to talk herself into telling him after all, the worst thing happened.

It was on a Monday in the middle of May, and they were gathered around the breakfast table in the cafeteria at school. Jeremy hadn't bothered to come in and pester Elsa, which she was glad for. A few minutes after Rose and Kristoff arrived, the four of them were talking about what they wanted to do that coming weekend. As the conversation was finally coming to a point where plans were being made, some girl with long brown hair walked up to the table and sat beside Micah. He threw his good arm around her and kissed her right in front of everyone. Jaws dropped to the floor as everyone was utterly shocked.

Rose was the first one to speak after she regathered herself. "No offense Micah, but who the hell is this?"

"Oh, this is Amber. She's in my world history class," he said nonchalantly.

"And you're hanging all over her because...?"

"She's my girlfriend."

Elsa's heart nearly exploded, and she stared at him in total disbelief. Micah had a girlfriend. A girlfriend he hadn't told anyone about. She felt sick to the stomach, and she was unable to look away.

"Girlfriend? When the hell did this happen?" Kristoff asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Last week after school. Why do you think I haven't been going to Elsa's lately?"

"That's why? Why didn't you tell me?" Elsa asked.

"I dunno. It slipped my mind."

"How does you having a girlfriend just slip your mind?" Rose asked angrily.

"It just did, alright? What's the big deal? Amber is cool."

"I'm sure she is. It's just not fair to keep something like this secret from your friends."

"Look, I'm sorry. I didn't even think to tell you guys. You were all busy with other stuff. I mean, Elsa has been busy with Jeremy, and you and Kristoff have your stuff you're doing-"

"We don't have stuff that we're doing," the burly blonde responded.

"Well whatever. The point is, I have a girlfriend now and that's that. Besides, I haven't had the chance to introduce any of you."

"Well, fine then. Hi, I'm Rose, the sweet and lovable matchmaker of the group. The big muscly guy next to me is Kristoff, and the hot as hell blonde sitting over there is Elsa. Oh, and the guy who's lap you're practically sitting on is a complete jackass."

"Hi, I guess," Amber said nervously.

"Hey, what the hell? What did I do?" Micah asked defensively.

"How about not telling us you have a girlfriend for over a week?" Elsa retorted.

"I said I'm sorry!"

"Babe, maybe we should give them some space," Amber said to Micah.

"Yeah, that might be a good idea. I'll see you guys later."

As Amber and Micah got up and left, Elsa stared after them with a very hurt look on her face. When she turned back to the others, they both looked at her with sympathy.

"We're sorry, sweetie. We had no idea that the man of your dreams was a complete ass."

"Yeah, Els. We didn't know about Amber. This is completely new to us," Kristoff added.

"I don't understand what happened... I was finally going to tell him," Elsa said quietly, mostly to herself. She looked lost and confused.

"Elsa, you can't do this to yourself. But I think the problem is you waited too long. Why do you think I hounded you for so long?" Rose asked.

"I know, but... I was ready now. I was going to tell him and..."

"It might not be too late. You could still tell him when it's just the two of you."

"But that hasn't happened in over a week, and now I know why. What does this mean?"

"It means he's considered moving on. I mean, he's been waiting since what? Sixth grade? Possibly longer. It looks like he got tired of waiting," Kristoff said with a mouthful of food.

"So what do I do now?"

"Well, you can either run to him and tell him how you feel, and pray to God himself that he doesn't throw it back in your face, or you let him go. You don't really have any other options," said Rose.

Letting out a whimper, Elsa let her head fall to the table top and make a loud smacking noise. It stung a little, but she didn't really care. She had more pressing matters to deal with.

"So what do you plan on doing about Jeremy?" Kristoff asked.

"Nothing, I guess. But he keeps pressuring me to have sex, and to be honest, he got really close this weekend," she lied.

"Elsa, do not make me smack you," Rose threatened.

"What? He's been really sweet lately. We haven't been fighting or anything."

"I thought you didn't feel anything for the guy."

"I don't know. I mean, maybe I do a little now."

"Wait, you're actually starting to have feelings for the douchebag?" Kristoff asked incredulously.

"I don't know for sure. Like I said, he's been really nice lately. And it's sort of starting to feel good when we kiss. Like, something is starting to happen to me."

"You have got to be kidding me," Rose said, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration. "So what about all this shit with Micah then? Are you just trying to play the field?"

"What? No!"

"Then what the hell is going through your head, Elsa? You can't be with both of them. You're going to have to pick one of the two jackasses, and I swear to God that if you pick Jeremy I will slap you so damn hard that your grandchildren will feel it."

"Since when do you get to choose who I love?"

"Since you're too stupid to make the right call."

"That isn't remotely fair, Rose. These are my choices to make, not yours."

"Elsa, not ten minutes ago you wanted Micah all to yourself. Before that you were too damn scared to tell him how you felt because you are with Jeremy and don't want to push him away. Make up your damn mind!"

"Why are you doing this to me!?"

"Because you need to pull your head out of your ass and see that you are totally screwing things up! Micah has a girlfriend now because you took too long! Your boyfriend, whether you want to admit to it or not, is a complete dick! And now you're pushing away the only people that give a damn about you because you don't know what you're doing!"

"I'm going to class. I'll see you guys later. Maybe."

With that, Elsa stood up, slammed the chair she was sitting in against the table, and stormed off. Kristoff and Rose just stared after her, but said nothing.

"Well, that could have been handled better," Kristoff remarked.

"Yeah, well, she's royally pissing me off right now," Rose countered.

"So now what?"

"I dunno. I'm about to give up on them. They're driving me crazy, and they clearly don't care enough to tell each other about their feelings. I mean, I can only do so much."

"Does Micah know how Elsa feels?"

"Not yet. He also doesn't know about Jeremy hitting her."

"Wait, what!? When did that happen?"

"The night Micah went to the ER."

"Oh really? Looks like I'm going to have to have a chat with Jeremy."

"I so desperately want to support you on that, but my conscience is telling me otherwise. Damn Jiminy Cricket."

"What?"

"The little cricket dude from Pinocchio. Don't you remember? He's Pinocchio's conscience throughout the movie."

"Oh yeah. So wait, why are you not on board with me beating the crap out of Jeremy?"

"Because, you'd get suspended, and then what? It would just drive Elsa further away. What we need is a game plan. We need to get Jeremy out of Elsa's life, because he is going to destroy her."

"And what about Micah?"

As soon as he asked, the bell for first period rang out, prompting them to head to class. Gathering their things, they wandered out into the hall by the main office and started walking.

"We have to get him away from Amber. I know him well enough to know that right now, he's just settling for her because of Elsa. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if he's just trying to use her to get Elsa jealous. Something is off about her though. I can tell just by looking at her."

Kristoff smirked at her comment. "Are you sure it's not just bias?"

"Oh, it's definitely bias. But there's something else. I'll let you know what it is when I figure it out."

00000

The school year was coming to a close, and Elsa and Micah had been avoiding one another. It was painful to watch for the others, as they were now caught in the middle of this ordeal. To make matters worse, Elsa was constantly hanging onto the arm of Jeremy as they walked down the halls together, and Micah was making it obvious that he and Amber were dating. Why they were going to such great lengths to do this, neither Kristoff or Rose could say.

By the time the last week of school rolled around, the pair hadn't spoken to one another in over a month. It pained Rose to no end to see the two become so distant with one another. She was constantly wracking her brain trying to formulate some plan to get them back together, at least as best friends if not as a couple.

The morning of the last day of school, Elsa entered the cafeteria for breakfast and found that Micah was already there with Amber. So, instead of sitting at her usual table, she chose one a few rows down. She sat alone until Rose and Kristoff arrived, and when they saw what was going on they shook their heads.

Grabbing a chair next to Elsa, Rose sat and scooted in rather noisily. She was making it a point that Micah could hear in between the deep-throated kissing he was administering to Amber.

"Okay, I can see why you're not sitting over there," Rose said as chipper as she could.

"He's like this every day lately. It makes me sick," Elsa said with disgust.

"Don't you think that's rather hypocritical?" Kristoff asked as he took a seat across from her.

"What do you mean? I don't do that."

"Yes, hon, you do. Every day in the hall by your locker with Jeremy," Rose pointed out.

"I do not make out with him."

"Again, yes you do. The only difference here is Jeremy beats the hell out of you."

"No he doesn't!"

"Oh really? How many times in the last month have you come to school with bruises and black eyes?"

Elsa grew real quiet and small, withdrawing as much as she could into herself. She refused to look either of them in the eye.

"Your silence speaks volumes," Kristoff said.

"You guys don't understand! If I would just stop upsetting him-"

"Elsa, cut the crap! The son of a bitch is abusing you and you know it. At least you're not having sex with the ape," Rose said harshly.

"Yeah, about that..."

Both Kristoff and Rose's jaws dropped.

"No, you didn't..."

"He was being really sweet! He bought me these flowers and chocolates, and took me up to our favorite spot above the lake. It was kind of romantic."

"I think I'm going to be sick."

"But it wasn't all that great. It really kind of hurt. A lot. And it was short. I don't think I'm going to do it ever again. I didn't care for it at all."

"So was it worth it?" Kristoff asked with a frown.

"No, not really," Elsa admitted.

"When the hell are you two going to start being friends again?" Rose asked.

"Who? Me and Micah? I don't know if we'll ever be friends again."

"Really? You're going to throw away nine years of friendship over all this?"

"I'm not the one that threw it all away. Micah hasn't said anything to me in a month. Not since he started dating that slut."

"Oh, now the name calling starts," Kristoff said with amusement. "You guys aren't even exes."

"How do you know she's a slut?" Rose joked.

"Because I've seen her making out with a few other guys the last couple weeks," Elsa said nonchalantly.

"Wait, what!?"

"What?"

"You saw her do what, exactly?"

"I saw her kissing at least three other guys since she's been with Micah. Of course he was nowhere around."

"And you didn't think to tell us this sooner?" Kristoff asked, irritated.

"Why do you guys care?"

"Because we're your friends! Even if the two of you are being complete morons"

"We have to tell him," Rose demanded.

"Be my guest. I don't really care anymore," Elsa lied.

"That's a load of bull. He's your best friend."

"Was my best friend. Like I said, he won't speak to me. Not since they got together."

"And what are your feelings for him now?" Kristoff asked with genuine interest.

"I still love him dearly. I can't get it out of my head. I don't know what to do!"

"Don't worry, I'll talk to him."

"And say what? 'Hey, your ex-best friend wants to tell you that she loves you, so please break up with the slut with brown hair'?" Rose asked sarcastically.

"Yeah, pretty much that."

"You must be joking."

"Wish me luck!"

When the bell rang for class to start, Kristoff followed Micah and Amber out into the hall. When he called after Micah, he stopped.

"I'll catch you after class, alright?" Micah said to Amber.

"Yeah, sure."

After she walked away, Kristoff approached Micah and looked him up and down, shaking his head.

"Man, what has gotten into you?"

"What're you talking about?" Micah asked.

"The way you've been treating Elsa, that's what."

"I'm not treating her like anything. She's the one that's been cold to me. Ever since I got together with Amber, Elsa has given me the cold shoulder."

"No, you dunce. She has not. She has been desperately crying out for your attention. How have you not noticed?"

"She sure has a funny way of showing it," Micah retorted, getting visibly irritated.

"You guys have been best friends forever. Why are you doing this to each other?"

"Doing what, exactly?"

"You guys seem to think that you hate each other, and that isn't the case at all. Elsa isn't mad at you. She's hurt. Big time."

"What do you mean she's hurt? I didn't do anything to her."

"I don't know how to tell you this without just outright telling you, so I'll leave that up to Rose. That's her department. But what I will tell you is that Elsa desperately wants to see you and wants to be friends again."

"You really mean it?" Micah asked.

"Have I ever had a reason to lie to you before?" Kristoff countered.

"No, I don't think so."

"Then yes, I mean it. Don't be so thick-headed."

"Alright, if you see her, tell her I'll meet her after school. I'll try and see if I can set things right."

"Okay. But, uh, there is one thing you need to know. She was supposed to have told you after you got out of the hospital, but I guess she never found the opportunity to do so."

"Yeah, what's that?"

"It's Jeremy. He's, uh, he hasn't been nice to her."

"Tell me something I didn't already know."

"He's hitting her."

Micah's stomach did a nosedive, and a chill filled the hall. A shiver shot up his spine, and he dropped his school books onto the floor in a mess.

"Did you just say what I think you said?"

"Yeah. Look man, he's been filling her head with this crap about how she needs to respect and obey him, how things are her fault when she angers him... All sorts of crazy shit. That night that you went to the ER, he hit her so bad the entire left side of her face was a giant bruise. Plus, there's been more since then. You haven't noticed because you've been playing tonsil hockey with Amber so much that I'm surprised you can find your way to class every morning. She's come to school with black eyes and marks on her arms, and when he drives her to school, she often comes in in tears and has had a bloody nose a few times. The only reason he isn't dead right now is because I swore to Rose and Elsa that I wouldn't do anything. And let me tell you, it's been hard as hell to sit by and watch my friend suffer."

As Kristoff spoke, Micah's jaw dropped more and more. He had no idea that these things were happening, and now that he did he didn't know what to do.

"Why the hell didn't anyone tell me!?"

"Because you've been a real jackass and acted like you didn't give a damn about her. She has been in tears just talking about you several times. She misses you man, and you have been completely ignoring her. Not to mention Rose and myself."

"Holy crap, I had no idea. What should I do?"

"What the hell do you think you should do? Go talk to her! Find out if she's alright! Make things right between you two so we can get back to being friends again."

"Yeah, okay. Maybe at lunch I'll see her."

"Good. Now get to class. Don't be screwing up your chance to graduate with the rest of us."

00000

At lunch, Kristoff and Rose were already sitting at their usual table eating their disgusting school food while waiting for either Micah or Elsa to show up. After ten minutes passed by and neither of them showed, Rose let out a groan of frustration and smacked her head on the tabletop. Kristoff sat back in his chair and crossed his arms across his chest and huffed.

"And here I thought they would actually do something right for a change," he said as he looked around the cafeteria for any sign of his friends.

"They are so dead when I see them next. Both of them. I'm going to murder both of them and bury them under the football turf," Rose exclaimed.

Shortly after Rose's little mental breakdown, Elsa finally entered the lunch room and made a beeline for their table.

"Have you guys seen Micah?" she asked as she plopped down into one of the chairs.

"No, and we're this close to killing both of you," Rose said as she held out two fingers to indicate her threat.

"What, why?"

"Because you two were supposed to get together for lunch and talk. At least that's what this big ape said."

"Hey, I told him to talk to her. He's the one that said he would at lunch," Kristoff said defensively.

"Yeah, well, I just saw his girlfriend making out with one of the guys on the wrestling team. I thought you guys were going to tell him," Elsa said.

"I was going to, but kinda forgot it when I was ripping him a new one."

"She's getting bold. She's doing it out in the open where everyone can see her."

"Well, we'll tell him the moment he shows up. Oh, speaking of, here he comes."

Sure enough, walking up to the table was Micah, who looked a little nervous for some odd reason.

"Hey guys," he managed with a nervous little wave.

"There he is! About damn time," Rose said a little too loudly.

"Yeah, well, um... Elsa, can I talk to you? Alone?"

Shooting her friends a nervous glance, Elsa stood up and followed him a little distance away from the others. She made sure to keep her distance though. She didn't know why, but she didn't feel as safe with him as she once had.

Turning back towards her, Micah began scratching the back of his neck like he always did when he was in trouble with her. "Look, Els, I'm really sorry about how I've been lately. I've been something of a jackass pretty much all year because of this crap with Jeremy, and well, I've taken it a little too far."

"Micah, it's okay. I never meant to push you away. I have tried so hard all year to make sure that I had time for both you guys and Jeremy. But you know how he is. He can be rather demanding at times. But I always tried to make time for you too."

"Yeah, well, I know about what he's been doing to you. You have no idea how much that pisses me off. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I told you at the start of the year that I didn't want you protecting me all the time. That I'm growing up and can take care of myself."

"But Elsa, he's hurting you."

"I...I know. Look, don't tell the others, because I've been trying hard to hide it. I'm scared to death of him. Yes, he can be very sweet, sweet enough to talk me into having sex-"

"Whoa, what!? When the hell did this happen?"

"... A while ago."

"Elsa, what the hell!?"

"Look, it was my decision. I have that right you know!"

"But the guy is an abusive prick!"

"And your girlfriend is a slut."

"Oh really. You're going to go that low just to try and get a jab in?"

"No, Micah, I'm saying that I have seen her making out with other guys around the campus. I saw her doing it not ten minutes ago out in the hall by the music room on my way here."

"You're lying."

"When the hell have I ever lied to you?"

"How about when you failed to mention that you were getting the crap beat out of you by your boyfriend!"

"I didn't lie! I simply didn't tell you! Besides, you were with Amber so much that I didn't have a chance to tell you!"

"This is great. Just great. Here I thought we could salvage what was left of our friendship, but I guess I was wrong. You can have that abusive piece of crap, because he suits you just fine. Now, stay the hell away from me." With that, Micah turned and stormed off.

"Micah! Wait!" Elsa called out, but it fell on deaf ears.

"Elsa, what the hell happened?" Rose asked as she and Kristoff got up and ran over to her.

"I... I don't know. Everything was going fine and then we started arguing about Jeremy and...Oh God, what have I done?"

"Hey, look, he just needs time to cool down. Maybe give him a call later and see what happens," Kristoff offered.

"That's a good idea. Just give him some space. What else did you say to him that pissed him off so much?" Rose asked.

"I told him about Amber. He called me a liar and then told me to leave him alone and to stay away."

Elsa began to tear up and cry, and rested her head on Rose's shoulder. Rose tried to soothe her by running a hand down her back and through her hair, but it didn't seem to help matters any. When she looked to Kristoff for help, all he could do was shrug helplessly.


	16. Chapter 16 - Repairing The Broken

**A/N: Well, here we are. It's almost Christmas time. Or Hanukkah. Well, whatever you celebrate this time of year, I hope you have a good holiday. So, this chapter is my gift to you. I think some of you will actually find it somewhat satisfying. It won't be exactly what you want, but it will be a step in the right direction for our beloved characters.**

 **I wanted to bring to light something that I have taken notice of as I've been writing this story. I am significantly further ahead in chapters than what is posted(as of this update I am up to chapter 40...I had a lot of free time), and the further along I've gone the more I've come to realize that this story is more than just a regular romance tale. A friend of mine called it a "slice of life" story, which I think fits it rather well. Romance was the original intent of this story, and it still is one of the primary focuses, but there is a lot that happens that has nothing to do with romance.**

 **I really hope that this won't bother or alienate any of you. This story has just grown into something more than I ever expected. Don't worry though, there is still a lot to have happen. The goal of this is to follow the gang through high school, college, and then life beyond. There is definitely an ending planned though. It's not just going to go on indefinitely, but it's also not going to be a short story.**

 **Anyway, enough of me rambling. On to the chapter.**

 **Chapter 16**

 _Repairing The Broken_

August 12th, 2014. The summer was nearly over, bringing closer the beginning of their sophomore year in high school. Things between Elsa and Micah were worse than ever. They hadn't spoken to one another once since school let out in June, and it was eating at both Kristoff and Rose. The pair had tried repeatedly to get their friends to talk to one another, but Micah wouldn't have any of it. As far as he was concerned, they were done.

Sitting outside Dr. Cohen's office, Elsa was on her phone texting Rose and Kristoff, trying to make plans for the weekend. Jeremy was going out of town with his friends, so she was available to hang out. The other two jumped on the opportunity instantly, and before long they had the entire weekend scheduled. It was going to be some of the most fun she had had in a long time.

Soon enough, she was called back into the office and found her spot on the new couch that Dr. Cohen had purchased. The old faded brown leather one had finally seen it's last visit, and this new one was a bit sturdier than before. Elsa wasn't sure she liked it much.

Taking the seat across from her as usual, Dr. Cohen sat down with her trademark clipboard and little black notebook. She looked a little more serious today than normal, and she didn't smile nearly as much as Elsa was accustomed to. Something was off.

"It's good to see you again, Elsa," she greeted. "How has your summer vacation been so far?"

"Pretty lousy, actually," Elsa replied.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Still having issues with Micah?"

"Yeah, you could say that."

"What about with Jeremy?"

"I don't really want to talk about him."

"Is there something wrong?"

"Yeah, he's a bastard."

"Why? What happened?"

"If I tell you, you have to swear to God that you won't tell my mom," Elsa said with a dead serious tone to her voice.

"Unless it's something illegal, I won't," Dr. Cohen promised.

"Okay. Well, I don't know if this counts. But, do you remember when I told you about Micah going to the emergency room?"

"Yes, that was back in April, I believe."

"Yeah. Well, that night when I went out with Jeremy, we went to that spot above the lake that I told you about. We got into an argument, and I told him I wanted to go home, and he, uh, he..."

"Elsa, did he hurt you?"

Elsa slowly nodded, then instinctively reached up and touched her cheek. The same cheek he had hit that night.

"Elsa, physical abuse and assault is a serious issue."

"You cannot tell my mother."

"This is against my better judgment."

"Promise me, or I won't talk anymore," Elsa threatened.

"Elsa, that isn't how this works," Dr. Cohen told her.

"Promise me!"

Dr. Cohen sighed, removed her glasses, and looked Elsa straight in the eyes.

"What else has he done, Elsa?"

"It's my fault. All of it. I'm the one that keeps angering him, so it's my fault when-"

"Elsa, stop. What you are doing right now is exactly what happens in an abusive relationship. The victim blames themselves, often because the abuser constantly tells them that it is their fault. It happens so much that the victim ends up believing it. What you are doing right now is a textbook example of this."

Mindlessly toying with the end of her braid, Elsa's eyes slowly fell to the floor.

"How often does he do it?" Dr. Cohen inquired.

"A few times a week," Elsa said meekly.

"Does he leave marks?"

"... Yeah. I have some bruises on my arms from the other day."

"You need to tell someone. Such as the police. You are lucky I am breaking my own code of ethics right now by not reporting this."

"But he can be really sweet and nice to me! That's why I chose to make love to him..."

"Elsa, you're sexually active now?"

"Only a couple times." She was now fidgeting with her hands, and still refused to look up. "It doesn't even feel good."

"This is rather alarming, Elsa. It was barely a year ago that you told me that you had zero desire to date anyone besides Micah, and now you're in an abusive relationship and sexually active with the guy. Meanwhile, there is a major rift between you and who used to be your best friend. I am highly concerned for you and your well-being. Why is all of this happening?"

Quietly, Elsa had begun to sniffle and weep. There were tears staining her shirt and running down her cheeks, and her shoulders sagged as if a great weight were placed upon them. Occasionally she'd wipe the tip of her nose with the back of her hand.

"I-I don't know... I have tried so hard to put my life back together after my dad got arrested! I thought things would get better! But they haven't! Everything is falling apart around me because the glue I've used for years has finally worn out! I'm stuck in a loveless relationship with a monster, and my best friend hates me and I don't know why! My grades are starting to fall because of all the stress, and the nightmares are worse than ever! Nothing is going right and I don't know what to do to save my life from total collapse!"

"Well, I would start by distancing yourself from your boyfriend. In all honesty, I'd break up with him, and if he were to come near you again, I'd call the police. What he is doing is illegal and wrong on so many levels. He has you believing these horrible things that simply aren't true. Elsa, we worked on this for years, and you made such great progress. Do not let him throw that all away."

"But I can't just leave him! He'll hurt me!"

"Not if you call the police. Elsa, I'm being dead serious when I tell you that you need to put an end to this. If not, you could end up seriously hurt or worse. I don't need to tell you what happens when things go too far."

She shifted her eyes from the floor back up to Dr. Cohen. They were red and puffy, and she was still crying and shivering, but it wasn't from the chill of the room. It was out of fear.

"... How do I leave him without him hurting me?"

"Make sure you have a friend with you and tell him you are done. Perhaps have an adult involved. Even a phone call would work. But do it in a manner where he cannot get to you right away. If he makes any threats, write them down and call the police," Dr. Cohen instructed.

"Okay, I can do that. Yeah. Oh god, I'm scared."

"It's okay to be scared. To be honest, I'd be worried if you weren't. But you _can_ do this. I have faith in you."

"And what about Micah? How do I get him to speak to me again?"

"Unfortunately, all you can do is try. You cannot force someone to speak to you or like you. If his relationship is as toxic as you claim it is, then he may not be in his right mind. The two of you have so much history together that his emotions are probably completely skewed. If he truly does love you, though, he will eventually come around. It may not be soon, but love has a funny way of setting things right. You really just have to give him time, and try to be understanding when you do see him. Do not make things about you, don't try to argue or place blame, and don't point out each others faults. It will get you nowhere. You're going to have to be the adult here and treat it tenderly."

"That makes a lot of sense."

"Good. Now, what about your other friends? Kristoff and Rose? Are you still making time for them?"

"I've been trying to. Just not as much as I'd like. Jeremy tries to spend all his time with me, but I know it's just so I don't see my friends at all."

"Well that seems like an issue that will resolve itself once you have dealt with Jeremy."

"Yeah, I hope so."

00000

That weekend, Elsa's plans with her friends went smoothly. No Jeremy to try and order her around or interrupt her fun, and she didn't have to put up with his nonsense for three whole days. The best part was, she got to spend the whole weekend with her favorite two people. Of course, they spent most of it helping Elsa work on some issues.

It had been decided that Kristoff would help Elsa break things off with Jeremy. Not that Rose wasn't intimidating in any way, but Jeremy didn't respect women enough to find her threatening. He did, however, dislike Kristoff because of how big he was. He had told Elsa repeatedly that Kristoff was a monster and could hurt her if she wasn't careful. It was just another one of his lame attempts at controlling her. Finally, after a full year of abuse and torment, she had had enough. By the time Monday came, Elsa was ready. She had worked out everything. She knew exactly what she was going to say, exactly where she was going to say it, and how much of a threat she wanted Kristoff to be.

Monday morning, Jeremy called Elsa early. She was already up and ready. The plan was to meet him inside the food court at the mall at around 3 pm. She would already be there waiting with Kristoff just a few yards away. He'd stay out of the way unless things got too hairy and then he would intervene. Otherwise, he'd just gauge the situation and hope that Elsa can handle things on her own. It would be a lie to say he didn't want Jeremy to step out of line just a little.

They were at the food court by 2:45 pm, and found a nice table that was isolated enough so that nobody would overhear the conversation unless voices were raised. Jeremy had no idea what she was doing. All she had told him was she wanted to see him at the mall because she had a surprise. When he got excited and asked her what it was, she played coy. That seemed to pique his interest a lot, and that's when Elsa knew he would take the bait.

She had been with him since last October, and in that time she had been ditched on the side of the road, yelled at, insulted, hit, groped, put down, and otherwise mistreated every step of the way. The biggest mistake she ever made was giving up her virginity to the bastard. At first she thought it would bring them closer and that she would feel something for him. But it never felt good, was always rushed, and clearly meant nothing to him. Even though she was only fifteen, Elsa was positive that sex was supposed to be more than that. It was supposed to be meaningful, it was supposed to feel good, and it wasn't supposed to be over in less than two minutes. Not that she complained about that. It felt so horrible that she didn't think she could handle any more than that. She always seemed to bleed a little afterward. Thankfully they had only done it a couple times.

When it turned 3 pm, Elsa put her game face on. She was sitting with her legs crossed in her chair sipping on her favorite drink, a medium-sized Pepsi from Auntie Anne's. She was watching both entrances, primarily because she wasn't sure which side he'd come in through. After roughly five minutes of waiting, he finally arrived from the far end, the opposite of where they had come in at.

Once he spotted her, he waved and headed straight for her. As soon as he got there he leaned down and kissed her full on the lips. She did her best not to cringe, and was proud of herself for maintaining composure.

"Sorry I'm late, babe. Traffic was a bitch," he said, not really apologizing.

"Yeah, I guess."

"So, what's this surprise you said you had?"

Elsa grinned to herself, then took another sip of her drink. She liked the fizz and sweetness mixed together. "This is the surprise, sweetheart."

Looking around, Jeremy's face contorted in confusion. "I don't get it."

"Of course you don't. Jeremy, we need to talk."

"Um, okay. About what?"

"About us."

Jeremy was starting to grow impatient, and made it obvious he wanted her to just tell him what she wanted already. "What about us?"

Taking a long drink of her Pepsi, Elsa looked around the food court and only saw a handful of people eating. It was pretty light for a Monday afternoon, but there were plenty of people passing through. She knew she was relatively safe. Besides, Kristoff was only about three tables over listening for trouble.

"We have been together since last October. A lot has happened in that time. You've taken me on dates, you've bought me a bunch of stuff, you've driven me places... We've created a lot of memories together."

"Yeah, we have. It's been a lot of fun."

"No, Jeremy, it hasn't."

"What are you talking about?" he asked, confused.

"You treat me like shit," Elsa said angrily. "You yell at me constantly, you call me names, you insult me and my intelligence, you've beaten the crap out of me over nothing, and honestly, you are terrible at sex. You have become the bane of my existence, and I am done being your victim."

"What the hell has gotten into you, you insolent little whore!"

"Jeremy, we're through. Get the hell out of my life and never come back. You will not speak to me at school, and if you so much as look at me I will call the police in a heartbeat. Now, I haven't told my mother anything yet, but give me one good reason to and she will see you placed in handcuffs faster than you can blink. I still have plenty of marks and bruises that could easily convict you, and I have taken pictures of all of them. I have been doing this for months for my own reasons, but they are now going into an evidence portfolio that I have and will stay there just in case you ever try to pull this shit on me again. You're also incredibly lucky that I haven't told my friend Kristoff to beat the living hell out of you, because he is sitting right behind me waiting for the word to do so."

Shaking in his chair, Jeremy's face was turning red like a tomato. He was livid. It took every fiber of his being to prevent himself from beating her in public, and he wasn't too sure that that would be a bad idea at this point.

"You little bitch!" Jeremy shouted. "I have spent thousands of dollars on you trying to groom you into something you're not! I have done everything I can to get rid of your terrible habits and these filthy friends of yours! How dare you insult me and my hospitality with this bullshit! You are nothing without me! _Nothing!"_

"Get up and walk away Jeremy. Now. I won't tell you again."

It happened in a flash. Jeremy stood up and threw the chair he was sitting in at Elsa, hitting the table and knocking it and her over. Before he could take another step towards her, Kristoff was on top of him, wrestling him to the ground and pinning him with his arms behind his back. He was face-first into the floor and was having a hard time breathing.

"Not so fast, buddy!" Kristoff said with a chuckle. "Did you really think that I was going to let you hurt my friend? You must be dumber than you look, and right now, you look pretty stupid. So here's the deal. The ball is now in my court, and there it will stay. You had better learn how to look over your shoulders, my friend, because you just turned your life into a living hell. The moment I see you step foot near Elsa, you will be dead. You might have some classes together, but for your sake I hope you don't. I will be watching you like a hawk from now on. You like hitting women? Well you've just become my bitch, so now you get to know what it's like to be on the other end. So please, make one wrong move and learn your lesson."

Before Jeremy could do much more, the mall security arrived and broke things up. After a couple minutes of getting things in order and taking statements from witnesses, the onsite officer escorted Jeremy off the premises. Elsa was standing there shivering, mostly due to the adrenaline pumping through her veins. Kristoff had his arm around her, trying to comfort her and help calm her down. The excitement had gotten to her.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked as they walked out towards the bus stop.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Or will be," Elsa told him.

"Just so you know, you did an amazing job. Your voice didn't crack once, and you sounded extremely calm and collected."

"Good, because I was a nervous wreck underneath. I was terrified of what he was going to say and do."

"Well, you did good. I'm really proud of you. That bastard is finally out of your life...mostly. You still gotta see his ugly mug at school, though. But besides that, you're free!"

"I would not have been able to do this without you and Rose. You guys saved my life. Literally."

"Eh, its all in a day's work. We're your pals. We look after our own."

"That makes two bullies you've had to save me from. You're my hero," Elsa said with a big, toothy grin.

"You're welcome. Now the hard part. Getting Micah to pull his head out of his ass."

"I don't know what to do about that. I've never seen him act like this before. Ever. He's been so hostile towards me and I don't know why."

"It might be that he's resentful of you and Jeremy because of his feelings being rejected," Kristoff said sagely. "Or at least that's how he would see it. We both know you didn't reject him, mostly because you had no idea. Somehow. Really, how did you not notice that he loved you?"

"I don't know, Kris," she said with a shrug. "I was in a very bad place, and I was in complete denial. I honestly didn't believe anyone could love me. Plus I was terrified of my own feelings for him. I've wanted to be with him since fifth grade. That's how long I've known I've loved him. I just didn't know what it was. I almost told him at camp when he tried to drown himself like an idiot, but for some reason I couldn't. I've been afraid of telling him ever since then."

"Yeah, well, we're going to find a way to get you guys back in good graces again. We're not going to let him throw this all away. You guys have too much good history together for that."

"What about Amber? He still refuses to believe that she was cheating on him."

"I think he needs to catch her in the act. But that's gonna be tough, if not impossible, to set up."

"We don't want to rig it, Kristoff."

"That's not what I meant. I mean, he needs to walk in on it happening, but it's impossible to know when and where she'll be doing it. I just hope he has the brains to use protection, should it ever get to that point... Wait, you used protection every time, right?"

"Yes, Kristoff, I did. Or he did, rather. The point is we used condoms. I refused to let him touch me if he didn't have any, even if he did hit me."

"I still want to kick his ass."

"Don't worry, you have all year."

"Good," Kristoff said happily. "I can't wait."

While waiting for the bus, Elsa pulled out her phone and sent a quick text to Rose, making sure that Kristoff couldn't read what was being said. She was nervous about sending it, but her friend was the only person she could trust.

 _Rose, I need to ask you a huge favor. Will you go with me to the clinic tomorrow? I'll tell you why later._

When she slipped her phone back into her purse, she shot a glance up at Kristoff, praying he hadn't seen anything. The boy was completely oblivious.

00000

As the school year revved up and sped on it's way, things became a little more interesting. Elsa didn't have any classes with Jeremy, which she was more than thankful for, and the few times she did see him in the hallways he kept a safe distance from her. Kristoff had taken to walking her to most of her classes when he had a chance. When he couldn't, Rose would. For the first time since she met Jeremy, she felt safe.

Micah was nowhere to be seen a lot of the time. Every now and then she would bump into him at their lockers, but he would refuse to look at her and walk away. Elsa had no idea what to do about the situation. She kept trying to find time to look for him and corner him so they could talk, but the opportunity never arose.

This went on until November, where he and his mother were supposed to go to Elsa's for Thanksgiving. They had been doing it for years, and it was something of a tradition. Unfortunately, this year ended up being completely different. Jenny ended up arriving by herself, and when Elsa asked about Micah, his mother simply told her he was at Amber's for the holiday. This bummed Elsa out big time. She had tried calling him multiple times, and every time it went straight to voicemail. After the twentieth unanswered message, she gave up.

By the time her birthday rolled around, Elsa was back to being lonely and miserable. Although Kristoff and Rose were there to celebrate with her, what she really wanted was for Micah to speak to her again. She couldn't figure out why he was so angry with her, and without him acknowledging her, it was pretty difficult for her to learn the answer.

She did manage to get her driver's license shortly after Christmas break, though. Her mother had been teaching her during the first few months of school, and sent her through a driving class in the afternoon. It was a big accomplishment for her, and gave her a new taste of freedom. She was finally able to drive herself around, and with the power of GPS on her phone she didn't have to worry about getting lost.

It was the end of January when things finally took an interesting turn. It was a Friday afternoon, right before the final class of the day, and Elsa was at her locker grabbing her science book for her chemistry class. She was busy organizing the books in her locker when she felt a tap on the shoulder. When she turned to see who it was, she was shocked to see it was Micah.

"Hey," Micah said nervously, barely able to look her in the eyes.

Turning fully around to face him, Elsa folded her hands in front of her and smiled weakly. "Hey."

"How've you been?"

"Okay, I guess. You?"

"About the same."

"Oh. Well, that's better than not good."

"Yeah," he said with an awkward chuckle.

"It's good to see you, Micah. Really."

"Yeah, it's pretty good to see you too."

There was an awkward silence between them for several seconds, with neither one looking the other in the eye or really at each other at all.

"Look, I'm sorry, Els. I've been a real bastard lately and I know it. I let things with Amber get in the way of us being friends, and I've honestly been pretty miserable the whole time. I've missed you a lot, and I think about you all the time. I just hate how Jeremy treats you so much, and the fact that you defend him-"

"Micah, I broke up with him in August. I've barely seen him since."

"Wait, you did?"

"Yeah. I got sick of being his punching bag. I finally had a wake up call when I saw my therapist, and she helped me leave him. Well, so did Kristoff and Rose, but Dr. Cohen gave me the strength to do it."

"That's great news! How are Kristoff and Rose?"

"They're good. They miss you too, by the way."

"That's good to hear."

"Micah, we used to be so close. We were best friends for so long. What happened to us? There has been this big rift between us and I can't figure out how it got there. I've missed you so much that it hurt. Why can't things go back to the way they were?"

"I don't know how to do that. But, I want to try. I really am sorry, Els. You have no idea. You were my best friend. We did everything together. I want to get back to that. Please forgive me."

"You'll always be forgiven. You are still the most important person in my life. Always have been. When Jeremy tried to come between us, it hurt so bad. I was scared and far too weak to do anything about it, too. But that's done now. We're done. I don't have to ever deal with him again. No more being his victim and making excuses for him. No more believing that I am always at fault. I'm working on getting past all that. He did a lot of damage to the progress I made over the years with Dr. Cohen, but I'm finally getting better." Elsa was actually sounding rather proud of herself. There was a strength to her voice that didn't use to be there.

"I'm so glad to hear that. You had me worried a lot, you know."

"I know. I never meant to."

"Yeah, I know. So now what? Where do we go from here?"

Elsa took a quick glance up and down the hall, and saw that the crowd was starting to thin out.

"Well, there is something I've been meaning to tell you for awhile now. It's just that... I, uh..."

"You what?"

"Nothing. Never mind. It's not important."

"Elsa, what is with the secrets? You have always done this and I don't understand why."

"I promise you, one day I'll tell you. But not right now. I'm not ready. I thought I was, but I just can't. Not yet."

"Do you realize how frustrating and confusing this is for me?" he said, annoyed.

"Actually, yes, because it's the same way for me," she admitted.

"It is?" Micah asked with a puzzled look on his face.

"Yes. Anyway, the point is I'll tell you eventually. I promise. Just give me some time and I'll tell you everything."

"Okay, I'm going to hold you to it. You still owe me an answer from sixth grade."

"I know. I will tell you that too. I'm finally starting to get to a point where I'm not so afraid. But I still need some time. Is that okay?"

"Of course it is. You know that."

"Okay. Do you want to hang out this weekend?"

"Actually, yes. Yes I do."

"Great! Call me after school, okay?"

"Will do."


	17. Chapter 17 - Beach Campout

**A/N: I know what some of you are thinking. "What the hell? ANOTHER chapter already? It's only been two days, Hatesolstice!" And you would be correct on that. However...**

 **Merry Goddamn Christmas folks! Since I'm in such a good mood, and it's the holidays, I wanted to surprise you all with a little gift. I hope it's worth it.**

 **I also wanted to say thank you to all the support I've received since this story has started. From just the amount of people reading it, to the people adding it to their followed/favorites lists, right to the people leaving reviews. I appreciate all of it. The feedback helps.**

 **I wanted to address something about the last chapter that some people had an issue with. Well, a couple issues with, actually. So I'll start with the break-up. The reason Elsa listened to Dr. Cohen more than the others is due to the fact that she has a lot of respect for the woman, and the woman has done wonders over the years to help her with all of her issues. Jeremy did a lot of damage to her mentally and emotionally, as was apparent in previous chapters(and will be to a slight degree in the coming chapters as well). Unlike her friends, however, Dr. Cohen is a specialist that knows how to deal with these issues, and since they have such a long-standing relationship in which Elsa has healed over time, she was far more receptive to the advice and help that therapist offered. This is actually very normal in the real world. Therapy works wonders for lots of people, and sometimes it takes that extra push from a therapist or counselor. Friends and family might tell you the same things, but it never has the same effects. This was Elsa's case.**

 **The second issue that came up was how easily Elsa and Micah became friends again. To address this, I want to point out that they did say that they wanted to get things back to the way they used to be. Elsa had been dying for Micah to speak to her and become her friend again, and Micah was absolutely miserable with how things were. It's not specifically stated in the story, but Micah was afraid of how Elsa would react to him coming to her, which is why it took him so long to approach her and apologize. In the end, they both wanted the same thing, and they intend to start fresh. Was this too easy and unbelievable? Perhaps. I've seen this sort of thing happen before, though. So, I based this off of my own personal experience, as writers tend to do.**

 **Finally, the last issue that was brought up was how the characters are changing. I'm not sure I fully understand why this is an issue, but it was. These characters are growing up and going through things that they've never experienced before. It's going to affect them on some level, and it's inevitable that change will take place. I've seen some comments both in the reviews and PMs that I've received about how Rose and Kristoff were terrible friends because of how they sided with Elsa or didn't bother trying to hook her up with Micah and vice versa, or how Micah was made out to be the bad guy when Elsa was just as bad, and other similar instances. Well, the thing to remember is how the characters have developed. Elsa allowed herself to be drawn into the situations she was in because A) she was unaware of Micah's feelings towards her because she was in denial, B) she was already in a bad place emotionally after everything that her father did, and C) she thought she was doing the best she could and deserved what she got. In return, Micah gave up and got into a toxic relationship and is in denial himself, all because he doesn't think Elsa will ever have feelings for him.**

 **In the beginning, Rose didn't know about Micah's feelings for Elsa, and by the time she found out it was almost too late. Elsa had already decided that she wouldn't wait for Micah any longer. Rose wanted her to be happy, and if that meant that her future didn't include Micah, then so be it. But Rose also didn't know, nor did anyone else, that Jeremy was a controlling, manipulative, and violent person. And true, Kristoff was there for Micah, but he didn't know about Elsa's feelings either. So really, it was a situation that nobody really had any way of fixing.**

 **Hopefully that explains things better. I want people to understand these characters more, and that I'm going to great lengths to develop them as if they were real people.**

 **Anyway, enough of me blabbing. On to the story.**

 **Chapter 17**

 _Beach Campout_

It was the final weekend of March, and the weather had turned to it's usual rainy season. The color had begun to return to the trees and grass, and when the sky wasn't a depressing drab gray, it was a beautiful cerulean blue. It was a little windy, but not nearly as bad as it was during the fall, though it was just as wet and chilly. The sun hadn't managed to break through the clouds and warmed things up yet.

The gang had decided that they were in desperate need of a camp out, and the best place to do that would be on the coast. So, that Friday after school everyone piled into the back of Elsa's SUV – technically it was her mother's, but Elsa was the primary driver anymore – loaded up their camping gear, and got on the freeway heading west. It would end up being a two hour drive, and Elsa's 90's alternative and grunge rock playlist would be blasted over the car stereo.

The car was packed, but luckily it had enough seats for everyone. Anna and Amber ended up tagging along, which was fine for the most part. Anna had managed to start hanging out more with Elsa and her friends when they visited, or if Elsa went somewhere to meet with them. They always invited her, mostly for Kristoff's sake, but also because they really liked her. Anna was a little more feisty than her sister, although Elsa could have her moments, and whenever the group was thinking of having a party of some sort, she would end up helping with the planning. For the most part, Anna had finally become something of a permanent member of the group.

Amber was a different matter entirely. The only reason she was even involved was because of Micah. The others didn't care for her too much, but it wasn't because she was a bad person per se. She was a horrible girlfriend to Micah, and the poor guy had no idea. He still refused to listen to anyone that told him she was cheating on him. If it wasn't for that, she would have been a welcomed addition to the group. But, since he and Elsa had begun mending bridges together, she had chosen to remain silent about the polymory that Amber was becoming notorious for. The last thing she wanted to do was reignite that fire.

The car ride was long, but not boring. They talked and joked the entire time, and had to make a couple pit stops along the way. By the time they got to Ocean Shores, it was about 4:45 pm. The town itself was a tourist trap, and things seemed to move at a much slower pace than in the rest of Washington. It was so laid back and relaxed that it felt like it was a completely different world.

They finally managed to find a road that led onto the beach, and parked the car in one of the provided stalls near the trail leading in. There was still a bit further to travel by foot, and with all the gear they had brought it would take a few trips. But it took them less than half an hour to unload the car and pack everything to their spot on the beach.

The weather was the same windy, cloudy gray that it had been back home, but the rain was holding back for the time being. The smell of salt was strong, and the crashing waves looked muddied and unwelcoming. It was also terribly cold. It was no longer storm season on the coast, but there were plenty of people that still came out to watch the weather and the rain clouds.

There were other people with the same idea of camping on the beach, which was something the area was known for. If they had gone just another mile or two further down the road, they would have run into the myriad inns and motels that dotted the waterfront. Elsa had almost suggested that they do that rather than sleep on the beach itself, but Kristoff was adamant about the usage of tents to 'be one with the elements'. It had something to do with his upbringing, and to appease the gentle giant she obliged.

Once the tents were pitched and the fire pit dug out, camp was more or less finished. As soon as that was dealt with, Kristoff drug Micah off to find wood for the campfire. The girls rolled their eyes, mostly because Elsa and Rose both offered to go and buy some firewood from the local market. The big blonde refused to let them as he claimed it wasn't natural.

With the boys off doing their own thing, the girls settled in and got comfortable. They knew Kristoff and Micah would be a little bit, and there really wasn't much left to do for the time being, so they did what any group of teenage girls did.

"Thanks a bunch for letting me come with you guys," Amber said as she tied her hair back into a ponytail.

"Yeah, you're welcome. Micah wouldn't have come if you didn't," Elsa replied. She was trying to be as friendly as possible.

"I don't know about that. I mean, you guys have been friends forever according to him. I honestly don't know what happened last year. He wouldn't talk about it with me. Like, at all. But I do know you guys were best friends since you were little. I thought it was sad to see you guys fighting."

"Yeah, well, there were a couple people in our lives that caused a lot of the friction that was there. Thankfully, one of them is gone now."

"Well that's good," Amber said. "I know I'd hate to be one of those people."

Elsa and Rose exchanged looks that Amber didn't catch. They both knew right away that the girl was oblivious.

"So, Amber, what are your plans for college?" Rose asked, changing the subject.

"Oh, well, I don't know. I may not go to college. It kind of just depends on what sounds good later on."

"You don't have any aspirations?" Elsa asked.

"What are those?"

"They're things you want to do. Dreams, so to speak," Rose informed her.

"Oh! Right. Well, I don't really know. Maybe be a vet."

"You want to be a veterinarian?"

"Yeah. I like animals."

"Yeah, I've noticed," Elsa muttered with a snicker. Only Rose caught it, and she tried not to laugh.

"What was that?" Amber asked, confused.

"Oh, nothing. So, if you are going to go that route, you know there is a lot of schooling involved, right? Like, at least four years of vet school. Plus, once you get your license, you have to constantly go to these workshops and seminars to stay up to date on all the medications and diseases, as well new procedures. So really, your education never ends."

"Really? How do you know that?"

"I considered it once as something I was interested in. But I've found something else that I think will suit me better."

"What's that?"

"I've decided I want to be a youth counselor and therapist. The one I have has helped me so much, that I want to help kids that have gone through the same things I have. They need to know there are people out there that care and want to listen and help. If it wasn't for Dr. Cohen, I would be even more of a mess than I am right now. I owe a lot to her. I want to be that person for someone else."

"That is really awesome, Elsa! I hope that works out for you."

"Me too. But it's going to be a lot of hard work. Speaking of, how are Micah's grades looking? I forgot to ask him before."

"Oh, I have no idea. He's told me he doesn't like math very much. Or science. But he doesn't ever tell me his grades. I know my grades aren't the best either."

"Well, if you really want to be a vet, you need to get those grades up so you can go to a good school and get your license," Elsa reminded her.

"Yeah, I know. What about you, Rose?" Amber asked inquisitively.

"I want to be an art major. I plan on going into either animation or the comic industry. Maybe write a manga or something. I have all sorts of ideas."

"Oh, that's right! You're the artist. Do you have any drawings with you?"

"Yeah, in my school bag. Remind me later and I'll show you."

"Awesome. I don't suppose you know what you want to do yet, Anna?"

"Not really," the little redhead said. "I really like music though, so maybe take singing lessons and do that. Although, that isn't college stuff. So I don't know."

It soon began to lightly drizzle on the sandy beach, and the girls had to draw up their hoodies and jackets. The boys still weren't back yet with the firewood, and Elsa was starting to wonder what happened to them. She was still considering heading to the store and buying some of the cheap firewood they had stocked outside. Kristoff would throw a fit if she did though. It was tempting to go buy some just to see his reaction.

That was something new Elsa was doing. She was working on herself, and trying to have more fun. Or at least what she perceived to be as fun. There was a whole side of life that she had never really experienced before, and now that she was free from the torment of being with Jeremy, she wanted to rediscover herself. She wanted to be strong, funny, outgoing, spontaneous, and so much more. Elsa had grown tired of being timid and shy all the time, and she had definitely grown tired of letting people walk all over her.

It had been nearly forty minutes since the boys took off to gather lumber for the fire, and it was beginning to turn dark and chilly. The girls had decided to move into one of the tents to keep out of the rain, which had started to fall harder. It was nearly 6 pm, and they were getting hungry. They had brought food for a barbecue, but without a fire there was little they could do.

Finally, at roughly 6:30 pm, Kristoff and Micah returned with a few bundles of wood they had found. Most of it was sticks and driftwood, but it was wood nonetheless. Elsa and Rose ended up poking fun at what they called 'wimpy wood' that the boys had brought back, then decided that they'd go and buy some briquettes and firewood like they had originally planned.

"I didn't realize how utterly stupid Amber really is until today," Rose said as she climbed into the passenger seat of the SUV.

"I don't understand what Micah sees in her. She's dimwitted, unobservant, and has zero desire for a real future," Elsa replied as she started up the engine.

"He probably thinks she's the best he's ever going to get because, as far as he is concerned, you weren't receptive to his attempts at courting you."

"We've gone over this. I was in denial the entire time."

"I know sweetie, but think about it. You gave up on him sooner than he gave up on you, and you were miserable because of it. What makes you think he's happy?"

"I don't know. I mean, she's giving him everything I never did. He gets attention, companionship, and she makes out with him every chance they get."

"Well, you provided two out of three of those beforehand, and you were much better about it. Plus, you weren't sleeping around behind his back either."

"But I clearly wasn't enough if he really thinks she'll give him what he needs," Elsa countered.

"Elsa, you're going to have to accept the fact that Micah is a moron. Don't give me that look, you know full well I'm right. Micah is a very smart, loving person normally. Right now, he's a god damn moron and she's playing him. The sad thing is, she's dumber than he is. So right now, he's being outwitted by an idiot. I feel so sorry for you."

"Me? Why me?"

"Because, the boy you're in love with is making the biggest mistake of his life. She has him wrapped around her finger, and yet I highly doubt she realizes what she's doing. But, if by some miracle she is perceptive enough to realize that she has him in her thrall, then I guess she's better at acting than we give her credit for. Because right now, she comes off as a complete dolt."

The car pulled into the parking lot of the local grocery store, and they headed inside to find a few things they hadn't managed to pack before they left. They were in need of things like paper plates, disposable cups, plastic utensils, and condiments. They also had to pick up more Pepsi for Elsa, because that was all she would drink, and the firewood and briquettes that they had originally left for. At the last minute, Rose stopped and grabbed a bag of large marshmallows. If they were going to camp, they might as well do it right.

"So what are we going to do? I can't force him to break up with her, and I can't just tell him I love him after everything that has happened. At least not yet. So what do I do?" Elsa asked as they piled the groceries into the backseat of the car.

"Well, there really isn't much we can do," Rose responded as she climbed in and buckled her seatbelt. "Right now, we're in a holding pattern until Micah either pulls his head out of his ass and realizes the mess he's gotten himself into, or you decide you aren't going to put your life on hold again."

"I'm not going to date anyone else, if that's what you're implying."

"You don't know that. Jeremy was a mistake. Not all guys are like that."

"I'm really not interested in dating again. Not unless it's with Micah. I've already said that before. That boy is the only one I want to be with. Otherwise, I'm perfectly content with being single."

"But you're holding onto a dream that may never come true. You don't know that Micah will ever come back to reality and see what he's missing."

"I really don't want to ask you this, but have you talked to him at all without Amber around?" Elsa inquired.

"That bitch never leaves his side. But, don't worry. I'll talk to him this weekend. I assume you want me to find out how he really feels?"

"I need to know if there is still some spark left. Some glimmer of hope. It was there once before."

"Like I said, don't worry. I've got you covered. I'll grab him tonight after we eat."

00000

The rain had let up shortly after they ate, letting the fire do it's job and heat up the tents just enough to take off the bite of the evening chill. Everyone was huddled around the fire pit trying to dry off and roast some marshmallows. Micah and Amber were making a sick display of trying to feed one another their toasty treats, making a complete mess and utter fools of themselves in the process. The others found it somewhat disgusting.

There was still a light breeze blowing across the beach, whipping through everyone's hair. It was nearing 10 pm, and everyone was still wide awake, talking and laughing and basically having a great time. It was as if they had all managed to leave behind their worries and drama for the weekend, and just reconnect with one another. At least, that's what Elsa wanted. But what she really wanted was some time alone with the man she loved. Unfortunately, that wasn't likely to happen with Amber right there.

At around 10:30 pm, Rose stood up and stretched, then leaned over and smacked Micah in the back of his head. When he shot her a confused look, she jerked her head towards the water, indicating for him to follow her. As he excused himself, he followed Rose out just a little ways past the tents.

"I hope this is important, because that was totally not called for," he said, rubbing the back of his head as if he were in actual pain.

"Don't question me and my motives. You should know better than that by now," Rose replied bossily.

"So, what's up?"

"I just wanted to find out how things are going with Amber. Are they okay?"

"Yeah, things are great. Never been happier."

"Yeah? That's good. Too bad you're full of crap."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Micah, you guys hardly speak to each other. All you do is make out, and even then it's painful to watch because it looks so awkward for you. You never have a smile on your face either. Not like you used to."

"I'm plenty happy, Rose. I promise."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, really."

"Then let me ask you something else. What are your feelings about Elsa?"

"My feelings about Elsa? What does that have to do with anything?" Micah asked with a confused expression on his face.

"It's a simple question. How do you feel about Elsa?"

"It doesn't matter how I feel about Elsa. We're friends again, so that's that."

"You know full well that that isn't true."

"What are you getting at?"

"Fine, I'll just come out and say it. Are you still in love with Elsa?"

Micah didn't answer right away. Instead of looking Rose in the eyes and acknowledging the question, he stared off towards camp where the others were waiting for them.

"I don't know anymore," he said with a small sigh. "I mean, I want to love her. I really do. But she never noticed me, and doesn't have feelings for me whatsoever. So, instead I have Amber. Is she Elsa? No, not even close. If I can be brutally honest, and if you swear not to tell her, then I'll fully admit that I wish I was with Elsa instead of her. I already talked about this with Kristoff though."

"Wait, when did you and Kristoff talk about this?" Rose asked.

"When we went to go get firewood. That was the main reason we went. Why do you think his feelings weren't really hurt when you guys went to go buy real wood?"

"What did you guys end up talking about?"

"Mostly hypothetical situations. Like, if Elsa really was in love with me, what would I do? That sort of thing. Honestly, I don't know what I'd do if that were the case. I want it so badly, but I don't know if I could handle it if it were the truth."

It was taking Rose every ounce of strength to hold back from telling Micah just how Elsa felt. Even though Amber was cheating on him, it wasn't her place to interfere with that anymore. They had already tried that, and Micah refused to believe them. He was adamant about Amber's faithfulness.

"Micah, I honestly think that you should do what makes you truly happy. If confessing your love to Elsa would make you happy, then do it. Because I'll tell you what, it's painfully obvious to me that you aren't happy with Amber. Now, you can live in denial all you want since that is your prerogative, but I seriously would reconsider. You truly have kept your mouth shut for far too long. Elsa is single again. She desperately wants to make things right between you two again. She is waiting on you, so man up! Go tell her how you feel and see where it takes you."

"But I can't, Rose. I'm with Amber."

"And like I just said, you're miserable with her. So dump her ass and move on!"

"It's not that simple."

"Of course it is! It's called love, Micah!"

"I told Amber I love her, okay?"

Rose was taken aback by his admission. She wasn't expecting to hear that come from his mouth. "You _what!?_ "

"I made the horrible mistake of telling Amber I love her."

Without warning, Rose reached up and smacked Micah upside the head for a second time. "You moron! Why would you do that if you didn't mean it!?"

"I don't know! This was before Elsa and I were speaking to each other again."

"Do not put any of the blame on her for that one, Micah. That was all you."

"Yeah, okay, you're right. It was all me. But still, it was during all that. I wasn't feeling right in the head."

"So what are you going to do now?"

"What do you mean?"

"What are you going to do about Elsa and Amber, genius?" Rose asked impatiently as she folded her arms in front of her.

"Oh. Well, probably what I'm doing now. Nothing."

"Even after everything we just talked about?"

"Yeah, Rose. My mind hasn't changed any. Elsa doesn't love me, so there's no point in coming clean to her. I'm with Amber. That's just how it's got to be."

"You are making a huge mistake."

"That's not the first time you've said that."

"Because it's not the first mistake you've made, dumbass. God, I want to hit you so badly right now!"

"You already have! Twice!"

"No, not like what I'm about to do. I'm so close to rearranging your face, you moron. I hope that you someday pull your head out of your ass and realize what you're missing out on. Elsa is right there, Micah. Right there! She is _waiting_ to be loved! The person that should be doing that is you!"

He didn't respond, and when Rose began to head back towards the others, he decided to just sit where he was standing and stare out over the water. There were a lot of thoughts floating through his mind, most revolving around Elsa, and what Rose had said. He could never understand why Rose was so adamant that he express his feelings to Elsa, because as far as he could see, she had no feelings towards him. But Rose acted like she did, even though she has never come out and said that Elsa does. It was all so very confusing. Besides, he was with Amber. There was nothing he could do.

00000

The next day was spent mostly near the water throwing frisbees, with Micah and Amber walking up and down the beach. Every now and then Elsa would look after them and imagine herself doing that with Micah. It was hard for her to keep seeing them together, especially after what Rose had told her. To know that Micah still loved her meant a lot, but until he decided to end things with Amber, there was nothing she could do.

Rose felt bad for her friend, because she could see the longing and the hurt on Elsa's face. She wore her heart on her sleeve, and the only one incapable of seeing it was the one person she wanted to notice. No matter how hard Rose had tried to connect the two, they were just too stubborn at the wrong times to do anything about it. Elsa had missed her chance, and Micah thought he would never get his. Now they both felt that it was too late.

Besides that, Saturday was a relaxed day. They played around, the girls scoured the beach for pretty seashells, and they all went into town for pizza. The weather was relatively clear all day, so they had the beauty of the sky above them to keep spirits high. Elsa kind of wished that they had a dog so she could play with it and take it for walks. So, she made a mental note to talk to her mother about getting one when they got back.

Sunday was kind of a drag as the weather had turned to rain yet again. As they started packing up for the long ride back home, Micah pulled Elsa aside so he could talk with her. He wanted to make sure he was out of earshot of Amber.

"Hey, do you have a second?" he asked her as he tugged on her arm.

She was in the process of cramming one of the coolers into the back of the car. "Sure, what's up?"

"I need to talk to you about Amber."

Elsa froze in place for a brief second. Hopefully it was brief enough so that Micah hadn't noticed.

"Um, okay."

Looking around to make sure they were alone, Micah lowered his voice just to be safe. "Alright, so, um... What do you think of her?"

"You're asking me for my opinion on your girlfriend?"

"Yeah."

"Micah-"

"Elsa, please? Just answer the question. It's important to me. Be honest."

Letting out a sigh, Elsa placed her hands on her hips and looked him straight in the eyes. "Honestly? I think she's a moron. She's not very intelligent or quick, and she has zero goals for her life. I think she's been a poor influence on you, because you have become a completely different person since you started dating her. I also think she's using you, and you know why I feel that way. On top of that, she has you so wrapped around her finger that you're blind to the things she's doing to you."

Micah didn't respond right away. Instead of looking her in the eyes, he stared down at the ground. He looked incredibly deflated.

"I kind of expected that would be what you'd say. The sad thing is, you're not wrong."

"Micah, what is happening to you? You used to be such a happy person. You used to be the one that was strong, not me. It was always you that I went to when I needed to be comforted. It was you that was always there to pull me back from falling over the ledge. But now... You're not the Micah I once knew. Why are you letting this happen?"

"Amber is the first person to ever show me any kind of love. It may not be perfect, but it's there. But no, I'm not happy. I don't know how to be happy, Elsa. There is only one thing that would make me happy, but it's something that I can never have, so it doesn't matter. I don't know what to do."

"You don't know that you can't have it unless you go after it. As for what you should do... Well, all I can tell you is what I did with Jeremy. That took so much willpower and courage on my part to do, and I didn't think I could do it. If it wasn't for Kristoff and Rose helping me plan the whole thing, I would still be with that son of a bitch. You have to just do whatever it takes to attain happiness, even if it seems unlikely as hell. You're a smart guy, Micah, and a very sweet one when you aren't being dragged down by others. The woman of your dreams is closer than you may realize, and she is waiting for you to open your eyes and see."

Before he could say another word, Elsa pulled him into a gentle hug, kissed him on the cheek, then turned and walked back to the car. The others were finished packing the back with their gear, and were waiting on them. He didn't move right away, instead standing there dumbstruck by what had just happened. Everything Elsa had said made total sense, but he had no idea how to do anything about it. He would end up thinking about all of it the entire car ride home.


	18. Chapter 18 - A Miserable Life

**Chapter 18**

 _A Miserable Life_

June 11th, 2015. It was the final week of school, marking the end of another crazy year. Everyone was excited for the summer vacation to arrive, as the weather was supposed to be amazing this year. The weather reports claimed that it was going to be in the mid nineties for most of summer, making it the perfect weather for swimming in the pool or just suntanning. Not that Micah was really into that sort of thing.

The year had wrapped up better than he originally expected. He was finally back to being best friends with Elsa, or at the very least very good friends. Kristoff and Rose didn't hate his guts anymore. But most importantly, the gang was whole once more. Micah regretted everything that had happened before, and was doing his best to rectify things with everyone.

Then there was Amber. There, sadly, was the fact that Micah was still miserable with her. He had been trying like hell to convince himself that he loved her, and for a moment even believed he did. But there was just no way to keep the illusion going. He didn't love her. There was no romance in their relationship. No spark. She was attractive, there was no doubt about that. But there were too many things about her that he didn't like. For example, her intelligence. She just wasn't very bright. Her personality clashed with his most of the time, and they didn't share any of the same interests. There was literally nothing connecting them together. So, why they stayed together was beyond him.

The biggest problem, though, was that she wasn't Elsa. This fact crossed his mind constantly. Amber just wasn't who he had hoped she would be. She didn't have those gorgeous sapphire-blue eyes, the long, platinum colored hair, that beautiful, soulful smile, or the slender, graceful features of who he considered to be a goddess. The sad truth was, Amber had no chance of being the person he wanted her to be.

The gang was sitting around their usual lunch table, waiting for the school day to end. They had been counting down the days for the last several weeks, and it just felt like it was dragging on and on. The following Tuesday would be the last day of the year, and then their summer vacation would start. They were discussing what their plans would be, and seeing if there was any way they could manage to do something together.

"I think we should go camping. Real camping. Away from the cities and all that. The campout at the beach didn't count," Kristoff proclaimed around a greasy bite of what was supposedly pizza.

"It so totally counted," Rose countered. "It was still camping, with tents and being outside and everything."

"No way! You're not supposed to run to the grocery store that is five minutes away from where you're camping at to buy firewood. It didn't count."

"Whatever. I do like the idea of camping again though. There are campsites all over the place. We just gotta pick one and reserve a spot."

"I say we just go on a road trip," Micah said. "I mean, we're all gonna have our licenses here pretty soon anyway, so we could take turns driving. We could go check out just about any state we wanted. I personally think it'd be cool to see Yellowstone Park."

"Yellowstone is a great idea!" Kristoff agreed. "Been there a bunch of times. It's awesome. They've got wild bears all over the place, beautiful scenery, the geysers... I think we should do that."

"The only one with a car that could fit all of us is me," Elsa reminded them. "And it's a couple days away from here. I kind of want to spend the day near the waterfront in Seattle."

"Elsa, we can do that whenever. That's literally forty minutes away from here, if that. We need to get out of Washington for a bit. Go see some other part of the country," Micah urged.

"I think going to Yellowstone would be pretty cool," Amber added enthusiastically.

"I don't know, you guys. I doubt our parents would even let us." Elsa didn't really think that her mother would allow her and her friends to go on any sort of road trip.

"Couldn't hurt to ask," Kristoff said. "I know my parents wouldn't have a problem with it."

"Mine either," Rose added.

Everyone chimed in, all agreeing that it would be the coolest thing in the world if they could go on a road trip to Yellowstone. Elsa had to admit, it was starting to sound kind of fun. But she was pretty positive her mother would say no in a hear beat.

"Alright, I'll talk to my mother and see if we can plan something. I can't promise that Yellowstone will be a possibility, but I'll try. If not, we can at least find a campground around here to go to. I'll talk to her tonight and let you know what she says," she said, trying her best to convince herself that this would even be a good idea.

That afternoon, Micah and Amber headed to his house to spend some time together. He hadn't told his friends yet that he and Amber were sexually active, and he intended to keep it that way. There was no doubt that Rose would slap him upside the head, Kristoff would tell him it was a mistake, and Elsa would be incredibly disappointed in him. Not that she had room to talk. She had had sex with Jeremy, even if she did hate it. But still, he didn't want to hear it from them about his decision. Besides, he was always careful and wore protection. He made sure of it.

They ended up just watching a movie and making out, something that they did on a regular basis. In fact, if he were to be perfectly honest, that was all their relationship was. There was no real substance. It didn't bother him at first, but after a while it became old and humdrum. But the thing was, he couldn't bring himself to stop. No matter how unhappy he was, he couldn't cut ties with Amber. Not after he made the mistake of declaring his love for her.

He constantly thought about what Elsa had said that day at the beach. The woman of his dreams was closer than he realized. There was no denying that. Elsa was right in front of him. But she also told him that she was waiting for him, and all he had to do was open his eyes. There was no way Elsa was talking about herself, he was sure of that. She just couldn't have been. Yet at the same time, it seemed like she was. Like she was aware of his feelings and knew that she was the one. But there just couldn't be any way that that was the case. Rose and Kristoff had promised not to tell her anything.

It was approaching 5 pm when Micah got a random call on his phone. At first he didn't recognize the number, so he ignored it. But they called again and again. Finally, he got sick of the phone ringing and answered it.

"Hello?" he asked into the phone as he picked it up.

 _"Hey son,"_ the voice on the other end said.

"Who is this?"

 _"Micah, it's your father."_

He froze. Micah recognized the voice, but didn't want to believe it. Refused to believe it. His father was locked up for the same petty crimes he had always committed. There was no way he was out again so soon.

"Nice try. My father is in prison."

 _"Son, I got out last week."_

"That's a lie."

 _"I can prove it."_

"Yeah? How?"

 _"Go to the window by the front door."_

Doing as he was instructed, Micah got up off the couch and wandered over to the front door, looked through the side window, then froze again. There across the street stood his father, waving at him. His heart began racing, and his stomach turned sour.

"How the hell did you get this number?"

 _"It wasn't hard."_

"What do you want?" Micah asked angrily.

 _"I just wanted to come see you. You know, check on you and see how you're doing."_

"Why? You never cared before."

 _"That's not true, Micah."_

"Then tell me why you've been gone so much. Why you felt it was better to do the stupid shit you've been doing than to be there for me and mom! All the birthdays you missed! Everything was ruined because you kept getting into trouble, and you didn't seem to care!"

 _"I know. But it was your mother. She's the one that's been keeping me way. I would have said hi sooner."_

"Do not put this on her. Don't you dare. We have done everything we can to make a life without your sorry ass. We moved on. So don't think you can come waltzing back in after all this time."

 _"Micah, I-"_

"No, don't say it. I'm going to hang up the phone now. Call me again, or come any closer to the house, and I'm calling the cops. I want you out of our lives."

Before his father could respond, Micah ended the call. He was pissed, and when Amber sensed this she got up and tried to comfort him, but he just pushed her away. Then, he had the sudden urge to throw his phone at the wall, but instead made a much more rational decision. He got on the phone and called his mother. When the receptionist at the dental office answered and he asked for his mother, she told him she was with a client and would be a bit. Deciding to just leave a message to call him back, he got off the phone and sat back down on the edge of the couch, leaned over, and placed his head in his hands and sighed. It was almost too much for him.

"Maybe I should go. You look like you would rather be alone right now, and I have some other stuff I gotta do," Amber said after a short bit of trying to comfort him.

"Yeah, just go. I'll call you later," he said, not looking up at her. He didn't care if she was there or not.

After she left, he just sat there and stared at the wall, thinking. His father was out of prison. Why the man had decided to contact him now of all times he had no idea. After being in and out of prison throughout Micah's life, Travis was a major disappointment. He had been arrested for selling dope, armed robbery, assault, domestic violence, and others. Jenny had done her best to keep the man out of her son's life. There was still a restraining order on him, not that that ever mattered to the guy. If it did, he wouldn't have tried contacting Micah.

About an hour passed before his mother called back. When he told her what had happened, Jenny told him she was calling the police. This didn't bother him in the slightest. His father meant nothing to him, and it would remain that way for the rest of his life. After he got off the phone with her, he decided to call the one person that might actually be able to make him feel better.

As the phone rang, he leaned back into the couch and just relaxed, taking in a deep breath. When the phone picked up, that sweet, angelic voice he craved for answered.

 _"Hey Micah,"_ Elsa's voice sang from the other end.

"Hey you," he said with a smile.

 _"You don't sound very happy. What's wrong?"_

"It's my dad. He's out of prison again. Somehow."

 _"Is he bothering you again?"_

"He tried to. I told him off though. Somehow, he got my phone number."

 _"Micah, you need to call the police. Now. You've already gone through this once."_

"Don't worry, I called my mom this time. She said she'd handle it."

 _"Okay, I'll take your word for it. I'm still worried though."_

"No need to be. I'm just pissed, that's all."

 _"If you say so. Is Amber with you?"_

"No, I sent her home. Didn't feel like dealing with her nonsense."

 _"I see. I wish I knew why you stay with her. You aren't happy and you don't really get along with her."_

"I don't know why I stay with her either. I guess it's because she's the only one that will pay any attention to me, or give me any form of companionship."

 _"That's not true. You have me."_

"That's not the same thing, Elsa. No offense. She gives me things you can't."

 _"You mean sex?"_

"Not just that. I dunno. I can't explain it. I mean, I still feel empty, but not as empty when she's around. But she doesn't make me feel full either. Like I said, it's hard to explain."

 _"Well, all I know is I've told you before that you need to do what makes you happy. This clearly isn't it. Besides, just because you tell someone you love them doesn't mean you're committed to them forever. I made the same mistake you did with Jeremy. I told him I loved him when I absolutely did not mean it. I let myself believe that I had to stay with him because of that, among other reasons. Please, Micah, learn from my mistakes. Don't make yourself miserable on purpose just because you think that's all you deserve. I promise you, the one you want is waiting for you, and that you'll find her soon."_

"How can you possibly know that?"

 _"It's just a gut feeling. I can just sense it."_

"That's not very reassuring."

 _"You won't know until you go looking for her, now will you?"_

"Look, the one person I want is the one person I can't have, so let's just leave it at that."

 _"You don't know that, Micah. Have you even tried talking to her?"_

"No, because I know she doesn't have any feelings for me."

 _"I think you really should tell her. I can promise you that she's waiting for you to say something, anything, about how you feel."_

"Look, can we change the subject, please? I'm not ever going to tell her because it would just backfire in my face."

 _"Micah, that's not true."_

"Yes, it is."

 _"I really hope that someday you change your mind. Because right now, you're letting her slip through your fingers. But I promise, she will always be waiting for you."_

"She didn't wait for me before. Why would she now?"

 _"Maybe she's opened her eyes as well and realized what she was missing was you. Again, it's just a gut feeling, but I feel like she is waiting for you to come to your senses."_

"I don't know, maybe. Tell you what, I'll put some more thought into it, okay? I mean, I've been real close to telling her before, but could never bring myself to follow through. Besides, why are you so interested in my love life?"

 _"Because I want you to be happy and to be with the woman you love. Amber isn't it. You've said that yourself. Now, you haven't told me who the woman you love is, but I will tell you that I have a pretty good idea. Don't ask how I would know, just know that I do. I'm telling you right now that she is waiting for you, Micah. Don't do that to her forever, and don't do that to yourself. Find the courage to tell her how you feel, because I can promise you that she'll be far more receptive than you are giving her credit for."_

"Maybe you're right. I don't know. I'm so confused, Els. I so desperately want to tell her, but what if it's too late? What if I had my chance and blew it already without even knowing it?"

 _"I can assure you that that is not the case."_

"You seem so sure."

 _"Because I am."_

"Alright, look, I'll tell her when I'm ready. I can't promise it'll be soon though. I mean, I'm still scared as hell. There's so many things that can go wrong. What if she says no? What if she doesn't like me the same way? What if she turns away from me and wants nothing more to do with me? There's just so much at stake."

 _"Micah, I don't know how else to reassure you that that won't happen. If you are truly close with this girl, and you know her as well as you make it sound, then you should know whether or not that that would be the case. Besides, it's very unlikely that she wouldn't want anything more to do with you. I don't think that really happens."_

"Maybe not. I don't know. I need some time. Give me some time to work up the courage. I might need some help though. Like, I wouldn't know what to say. Should I give her flowers? How do I know what her favorite flowers are? Where should I tell her? There's just so much I don't know."

 _"I wouldn't worry about any of that until you're ready. And even then, I highly doubt any of that stuff will be necessary. She'll just be happy that you finally came clean to her."_

"Okay. Well, like I said, give me some time. I have a lot of thinking I have to do. Maybe Rose can help with that."

 _"I think Rose would be the perfect person to help you out. All you need to do is tell her what you need and she'll come up with the rest. But please, take your time. Your dream girl isn't going anywhere. Like I said, I'm pretty sure I know who she is, and if I'm right then she is definitely waiting for you."_

"Yeah, okay. Well, I feel a little better, if not incredibly nervous now. So much on my mind. But there's still the matter of being with Amber. I don't know if I can bring myself to leave her. I mean, she'll be heartbroken, and I don't want to do that to her."

 _"Well, that's your call. I can't force you to break up with her. But it's not fair to either of you to stay in a loveless relationship either. It's only going to do more harm in the long run. Take it from me, I had to learn the hard way."_

"Yeah. Hey, I'm gonna let you go for now. I've got a lot to think about. I'll see you online in a bit. Maybe we can play a game or something."

 _"Sure, that'd be really nice. I'll talk to you in a bit. Just think about everything I've said."_

"Yeah, I will."

00000

Plans to head to Yellowstone unfortunately fell through. Elsa's mother wasn't too terribly receptive of the idea of her girls going out of state for a week long camping trip. It wasn't that she didn't trust them or their friends, she just didn't feel it was safe. Wyoming was a long ways away, and the idea of there being wild bears there didn't thrill her any. It kind of bummed Elsa and Anna out, but they just found other things to do.

Now that it was summer time, the gang took another trip to the coast to spend a few days bumming on the beach, primarily for Micah's birthday. They had a lot of fun, and the water was almost bearable enough to swim in. This time they made sure to buy the firewood as soon as they got there rather than so late in the evening, and they managed to actually get to the beach around noon. The weather was enjoyable, and this time they stopped at a few of the shops in town to buy some stuff to do, such as a few kite kits. With the constant breeze blowing in off the ocean, kite flying was something of a fun little pastime activity.

Unfortunately, it wasn't all fun and games. By the middle of the second day, Micah and Amber were fighting, and spent half the day yelling at each other over everything. The others did their best to stay out of it, and refused to take sides when it got to its boiling point. At one point, Amber got so angry that she told him they were over and stormed off down the beach. Instead of going after her, he sat and sulked by the tents. The others wanted to say they felt sorry for them, but couldn't. Mostly because they weren't sorry in the least.

Roughly an hour later, Amber came back and looked as if she had calmed down some. She wasn't really angry, she wasn't yelling, and she sat down next to Micah and they started talking. Elsa made absolutely sure to stay as far away as she could while they talked, since it wasn't any of her business what was going on. She was going to leave it up to Micah to decide if she needed to know or not.

By the third day, things seemed to have been smoothed over, and everyone was ready to pile back into the car and head home. As they packed up, Elsa caught a glimpse of Micah and Amber talking, and ended up overhearing what they were saying. It sounded like another fight was on the verge of breaking out.

"Look, just be honest with me about it, alright?" Micah pleaded to her as he tried to keep his voice down.

"Honest about what? Me fooling around behind your back? You really think I'm some slut?" Amber countered.

"If you aren't with someone else, then what the hell has gotten into you?"

"Nothing, Micah. Nothing has gotten into me. You're just being a paranoid jerk."

"I have been approached by people saying they've seen you making out with other guys. Everyone at school knows we're dating, so why the hell would they tell me this if it wasn't true?"

"I don't know. Who cares? It's not true."

"Look, I won't be mad if it's true. I just need to know."

"Micah, I just said it's not true. Now drop it."

Elsa had heard enough, and walked past as fast as she could without looking suspicious. The fact that Micah was willing to forgive her if it was true was scary. It meant he was resolved to stay with her even longer than Elsa had expected. It kind of stung a little knowing that he was willing to put himself through that just because he was afraid of admitting his feelings to her. It took all the strength she had to keep her mouth shut about knowing how he felt, and that she felt the same. She just couldn't bring herself to say anything while he was still with Amber. No matter how miserable he was, it just wouldn't be right.

The trip home was rather tense and quiet. After the drama between Micah and Amber, everyone kind of just wanted to keep to themselves so as not to cause any more issues. Micah and Amber refused to speak to one another, and it just made everything really awkward. It made the entire drive feel twice as long as it initially was. It didn't help that Kristoff was driving incredibly slow.

Once they got back and dropped everyone off, Elsa and Anna drove home and unloaded what was left in the back of the car. It was mostly just the coolers, tent and sleeping bags. While cleaning out some of the trash, Elsa found something wedged into the crack in the seat Micah had been sitting in. When she dug it out, she realized it was a gold ring with some tiny red and blue gemstones embedded in it. She made a mental note to text Micah as soon as they were done cleaning out the car.

With that taken care of, they packed everything into the garage before heading inside and greeting their mother. Elsa was finally able to visit most of the downstairs now, but still couldn't bring herself to go into the family room. It made Christmas rather difficult, since it was the only room in the house that was large enough for the tree. She desperately tried on several occasions to enter the room, and was able to get as far as the loveseat before having a massive panic attack and rushing back out to her mother and sister and breaking down in front of them.

As soon as she was upstairs and in her room, Elsa pulled out her phone and sent Micah that text message. Not thirty seconds passed before she got a response telling her to get on Skype. So, after grabbing one of the leftover cans of Pepsi that were in the one of the coolers, she sat herself down at her laptop, booted it up, and hopped online. As soon as she was on, Micah messaged her.

 _Raging Rajang: Hey, I wanted to apologize for what happened this weekend. You guys all need to know it had nothing to do with any of you._

 _Frosty Soul: Micah, it's okay. Nobody thought that. We didn't know what was going on between you and Amber, and we felt it was none of our business. I'm still sorry you were fighting though._

 _Raging Rajang: Yeah, it was over some stupid shit. Don't worry about it. I'm still sorry you had to put up with it, especially since the trip was for me to begin with._

 _Frosty Soul: It's fine. No harm done. At least, I hope not._

 _Raging Rajang: Yeah, I can't make any promises about that._

 _Frosty Soul: I'm sorry, Micah. I wish I knew what to say._

 _Raging Rajang: It's okay. No worries. So, what did you have to tell me?_

 _Frosty Soul: Oh, right. I was cleaning out the car after we got home, and I found this ring that was stuck in the crack of your seat. I just wanted to let you know so I can give it back to you._

 _Raging Rajang: Oh, that. Keep it. Toss it out. Do whatever. I don't care._

 _Frosty Soul: Micah, are you sure? I mean, it looks like it was kind of pricey. Plus, it's kind of pretty._

 _Raging Rajang: I'm positive. I want nothing to do with that damn thing._

 _Frosty Soul: Do you want to talk about it?_

 _Raging Rajang: Not really._

 _Frosty Soul: Okay. If you change your mind, I'm always here. But I'll keep the ring for you, just in case you decide you want it after all. I can't wear it though. It doesn't fit. It's too big._

 _Raging Rajang: You tried it on?_

 _Frosty Soul: Well, I mean... Maybe?_

 _Raging Rajang: Why would you do that? I'm not angry, just curious._

 _Frosty Soul: I don't know. I guess I kind of hoped that it'd fit and I could have it. Like I said, it's pretty, and I don't really have any jewelry._

 _Raging Rajang: If you want, go get it resized. They can reduce ring sizes too. Keep the damn thing for all I care. In fact, consider it a gift._

 _Frosty Soul: Are you sure? I mean, I would love to accept it as a gift from you. That would mean a lot. But I know you meant it for Amber, so it would feel weird._

 _Raging Rajang: Yes, I'm positive. It's yours. I want you to have it if it really will mean something to you. That would actually kind of make me feel better. As for it being Amber's, don't worry about it. She's not getting it._

 _Frosty Soul: Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?_

 _Raging Rajang: Yeah, I'm sure. At least, not right now. Maybe in a few days after I calm down some. I'm still too pissed._

 _Frosty Soul: I'm sorry, Micah. Just remember I'll always be here for you, okay?_

 _Raging Rajang: Thanks Els. Really, I mean it. Oh, can you keep a secret?_

 _Frosty Soul: Of course I can. You know that._

 _Raging Rajang: Yeah, right. Anyway, it's about Amber and me. It's one of the reasons we were fighting._

 _Frosty Soul: Okay. What is it? I won't tell anyone, not even Rose._

 _Raging Rajang: Okay. So, we were fighting because I refuse to have sex with her anymore, and she thinks I'm cheating on her._

 _Frosty Soul: Oh. That is absolutely ridiculous._

 _Raging Rajang: I agree, and I tried explaining that to her. But, she won't listen._

 _Frosty Soul: I'm really sorry to hear that._

 _Raging Rajang: Yeah. Oh what the hell, I'll tell you everything. It might make me feel better._

 _Frosty Soul: Don't do it unless you're absolutely sure. I don't want you regretting it._

 _Raging Rajang: Don't worry, I won't. Anyway, the real reason we were fighting is because I approached her about what you guys told me last year. You know, about her cheating on me. Well, you guys weren't the only ones who told me._

 _Frosty Soul: We weren't?_

 _Raging Rajang: No. Several other people from our classes came up to me, including a couple of her friends. I never believed them, but recently she's been getting phone calls and texts from guys I don't know. I've only seen a couple messages in passing. She's usually pretty secretive. But it raised my suspicions, and when I confronted her on Saturday after she got another one, she freaked out. That's when she accused me of cheating on her because we haven't had sex in over a month. She also accused me of sleeping with you._

Elsa spit out her Pepsi as she was taking a drink, and had to wipe the screen of her laptop off with a rag that was handily nearby. She wasn't sure if she was supposed to laugh or be royally pissed off and offended.

 _Frosty Soul: She said what!?_

 _Raging Rajang: Yeah, exactly my reaction._

 _Frosty Soul: I don't even know what to say to that._

 _Raging Rajang: Neither do I. Needless to say, the fight hasn't been resolved yet, and likely won't be for awhile._

 _Frosty Soul: Well, regardless, that made me spit Pepsi all over my computer._

 _Raging Rajang: Oh, oops. Sorry._

 _Frosty Soul: No, it's fine. Look, I'm sorry things are going so badly for you. Just remember everything I've told you in the past, okay? Happiness isn't as far away from you as you seem to think. Your girl is waiting for you. You just need the courage to tell her you love her. It'll work out in your favor, I can promise you that. But I need to go take a shower. I'll be back on later so we can play a game if you are up for it._

 _Raging Rajang: Yeah, sure. I'll be around. I'll see if the others want to get something going. Enjoy your shower._

 _Frosty Soul: Will do. See you in a bit._


	19. Chapter 19 - New Year's Resolution

**Chapter 19**

 _New Year's Resolution_

November 23rd, 2015. It was nearly time for Thanksgiving, and everyone was preparing for the holiday in their own ways. Micah had decided that he would spend the holiday with his mother and Elsa's family like he had in the past. Amber wasn't happy about it, and it only raised her suspicions even more, but Micah didn't really give a damn. He was so sick of her and her nonsense that he was practically done with her.

Summer had been rather fun, with the gang going on small road trips all over the state. One of Elsa's favorite trips was to the city of Leavenworth. It's a town that is perpetually stuck in the past as a traditional German city, and a major tourist spot. Between the food, the scenery, and the festivities, it was a great experience. It was also good for Kristoff and Micah, since they were still taking German.

When school had started back up, Elsa had to do her best to find some sort of extracurricular activities to fill in some time for her college applications. She had spent some time over the last couple years volunteering at the local animal shelter, and made sure to get a letter of recommendation from the head of staff so she could use the reference for when she applied to the state university. She also had to make sure the others did the same, though she was afraid Micah had been shirking his responsibilities in that regard. It frustrated her to no end, and she reminded him constantly that it was important to do that sort of stuff. He would then apologize, start back up with it for a time, then slowly begin procrastinating again. Then the cycle would start back over.

With Thanksgiving on the horizon, Elsa was rather excited to spend the holiday with her friend once again. Last year Micah spent the holiday with Amber, and Elsa was left feeling alone and disappointed. Technically, she had no right to feel that way. After all, Amber was his girlfriend, and she didn't know just how miserable Micah was at the time. But now, he was refusing to put up with her nonsense. Elsa knew that Amber suspected them of sleeping together, as ridiculous as it was. It surprised her, though, that Micah was willing to ditch Amber for Thanksgiving in order to spend time with the girl that was accused of sleeping with him to begin with.

Soon after it was Elsa's birthday, and her friends decided to throw her a surprise party, much to her displeasure. As she had told them in the past, she absolutely hated parties. It angered her a little that they intentionally ignored her pleas, but she couldn't stay mad at them for long. They were, after all, just trying to celebrate her birthday the best way they knew how. Besides, they made a peace offering of a full case of Pepsi, so she couldn't stay mad at them even if she wanted to.

She had finally managed to talk her mother into letting her get a dog. When she said yes, Elsa jumped up and down excitedly, squeezed her mother in the most violent hug she had ever given, then rushed down to the animal shelter she volunteered at and found the perfect dog. It was a female tan colored American pit bull terrier with the calmest, friendliest demeanor she had ever seen in a dog. After going through the lengthy paperwork and the meet and greet, it was roughly two days before Elsa could take the dog home. In that time, she had spent a lot of time trying to think of a name for her new companion. Eventually, she settled on Ellie after her favorite character from one of her favorite games, The Last Of Us.

As far as Elsa was concerned, it was the best birthday present she had ever gotten. The dog was only a couple years old, and was full of life. She was playful but very well-mannered, and didn't tear things apart like everyone had originally feared. The dog slept on Elsa's bed every night, and seemed to help with the nightmares some. Not as much as when Micah was there, but still it was better than before. The best part was the fact that Elsa was able to take Ellie just about anywhere and she would behave herself perfectly.

Eleventh grade was proving to be a little more difficult than anyone had expected. Elsa had managed to get into the psychology class that she really wanted, and her French classes were still going strong. Her AP classes were piling on the homework a bit more than she had first anticipated, but it wasn't anything she couldn't handle. But it did make it slightly more difficult to help Micah out since she had so much on her plate.

He had started going to her house after school to work on homework again. After not doing so well throughout tenth grade, he wanted to get back on track and make sure he did well so he could graduate like he had promised his friends that he would. He still had no idea what he was going to do about college though. The idea of coming up with some sort of game plan was overwhelming to him, and he had no idea what he wanted to do with his future. All Micah knew was that he didn't want to turn out like his father. That was imperative. He had to avoid that at all costs.

On New Year's Eve, everyone was invited to Rose's house to celebrate the countdown. That was her parents' agenda. They loved throwing parties for just about every occasion. So when the gang got together at her house for the festivities, there were all sorts of people there. It made Elsa feel very uncomfortable. The only reason she even decided to go was because her friends were all going to be there.

They were gathered up in Rose's room watching one of the performances on TV for the major New Years Eve party in New York. It was some music group that Elsa didn't know, and the others didn't really seem to care for. But, they were watching it anyway. They weren't really paying that much attention to it, though.

"I'm not at all impressed by these guys," Anna commented as she absentmindedly reached for the bowl of chips that was wedged between her and Kristoff. They had become pretty close friends, and he was waiting for her to enter high school before asking her out. He felt it would be weird to date a middle schooler.

"I dunno, I kind of like this song. It's catchy," Amber said from her seat on the floor. She and Micah had patched things up somewhat, and he brought her to the party after begging Rose to let him. She was very apprehensive of having the brunette at her house, but did it for Micah.

Elsa rolled her eyes, but chose to remain silent. She still hadn't forgiven the girl for accusing her of having sex with Micah behind her back. Not only was the accusation completely unfounded and uncalled for, it was a major insult after all the hospitality that Elsa had shown her. Besides, it was completely hypocritical. The girl was still being as loose as ever with the guys at school. There were more incidents of the gang catching her in the act. But now, they kept their mouths shut instead of telling Micah. He still refused to believe them.

Around 11 pm Rose elbowed Elsa and told her to follow her out to the kitchen where the snacks were. Her parents had gone all out and placed all sorts of stuff out for the guests. Rose made absolutely sure that there was Pepsi for her friend. Elsa was the only one that was picky about her drinks. Everyone else would drink whatever.

"So, how are you doing?" Rose asked Elsa as she started picking out some of the food she wanted to eat.

"I'm fine I guess. Why?" Elsa replied.

"Because, Amber is here. I figured it'd be kind of weird since she was accusing you of sleeping with Micah."

"Oh, that. I've pretty much been ignoring her. I don't care about her opinion of me."

"Well, good. I don't want you to be withdrawn and not have fun all night because of her."

"I'm not going to be. But I don't want anything to do with her. If she causes any trouble, I'm confronting her in front of everyone about the fact that she is cheating on Micah. I've had enough of watching her destroy his life."

"Well, it helps that we've all caught her doing it. Except for him. Somehow he's still oblivious to the whole thing."

"Not entirely. He's confronted her about it a few times. That's when she started thinking we were having sex. Regardless of my feelings for him, I'm not about to do that while they're together."

"Good. So, are you ever going to come out and tell him?" Rose asked as she stuffed her mouth with some roasted weenies.

"Not while he's with Amber. I've told you this."

"I know, but come on. You guys have been waiting so long as it is. I think it's time to just bite the bullet and do it."

"I can't, Rose. It wouldn't be right. He has to leave her on his own, not because of me."

"Alright. Just, try not to wait forever. You've done enough of that as it is."

As the clock drew closer to midnight, the party started to wind up. People were being even louder, and quite a few of the guests had had a little too much to drink. Rose's parents were busy entertaining a few of them in the living room. Elsa had no idea what they were doing, and didn't really want to know. It was some drunken disaster though, that much she knew.

Back in Rose's room, the countdown had begun in Seattle. Elsa chose to stand in the doorway rather than try to squeeze herself onto the bed, and she just leaned against the door frame and sipped on her drink. The others weren't really paying much attention to the TV, although Anna glanced at it every now and then. She was mostly just talking to Kristoff, but Elsa couldn't hear about what. Micah was still sitting on the floor with Amber, but was kind of ignoring her and her attempts to make out with him. Rose ended up hopping onto her computer and seemed to not give a damn about what was going on anymore. Then she waved Elsa over.

When she crossed the room and leaned over to see what Rose was looking at, she got confused. Rose was looking at apartment listings, and Elsa couldn't figure out why.

"I've been thinking of trying to find a place after high school is over with," the artist said. "It's in Seattle near the Art Institute. I know you're aiming to get into UW or WSU, so I thought we could just live on our own for a little bit. Get to take a break from school before getting back into it. I wanted to know if you'd want to be roommates."

"Rose, I don't know. I mean, I really just want to get college out of the way so I can start my career. I don't know if taking time off would be a good idea."

"I kind of figured you'd say that. But this place is down on the waterfront. It's a little pricey, but it's just to give us an idea of what's out there. There's no guarantee there will be any vacancies available when we get out of school. It's just to gauge what we might find. Besides, this is just one place I decided to look."

"And what about Micah and Kristoff?" Elsa asked in a whisper.

"I don't know. I wasn't going to ask them originally because they're going to have their own things going on. Kristoff is really hoping to be dating your sister by then, and as long as Micah is with Amber he isn't going to want to live with either of us anyway."

"I've been thinking about it. We have to find a way to convince him to leave her. Their relationship is horribly toxic. They're not happy, and she's cheating on him. I just wish he'd open his eyes and realize he could do so much better."

"We've done everything we can, Blondie. Right now, the ball is in his court."

The final seconds of the countdown had finally begun, and they could hear the adults out in the living room counting down with the people on the TV. When the ball dropped indicating the beginning of the new year, they started hooting and applauding. The kids had no idea what the big deal was. From the corner of her eye, Elsa could see Amber getting visibly upset with Micah because he refused to kiss her. She feared there would be a blow up shortly, and she didn't want to see it happen in Rose's room.

It wasn't for another hour before everyone started getting ready to leave. As Elsa and Anna were getting into the car, Elsa looked back to see Micah and Amber climbing into his car. They had started arguing, and were getting kind of loud about it. She didn't know what they were saying, but she knew it was about Micah ignoring her all night. There was a sensation in the pit of her stomach that she could only identify as sympathy. Elsa wished desperately that she could get Micah to come around and realize he needed to just dump Amber and move on. But for whatever reason, he had resigned himself to staying with the girl. Elsa just really wished she understood why.

After they were home and Elsa was climbing into bed, she got a text from Micah asking her if they could talk. As soon as she got it, she was dialing his number, wondering what in the world he could want to talk about at nearly 2 am. When he answered, he didn't sound happy at all.

 _"Elsa, sorry to bother you but it's kind of urgent."_

"It's fine. What's up?" Elsa asked as she was scratching Ellie behind the ears. Her dog was curled up at the foot of her bed.

 _"Amber is saying she has proof that we have been sleeping together."_

"What? How is that even possible? There can't be any since we haven't."

 _"I know. But she swears she knows people at school that have seen us making out."_

"I don't even know what to say to that. Who did she say saw this?"

 _"She won't tell me. But, she said she got a phone call earlier today from a friend of hers that saw us by the main stairs outside the office."_

"Micah, you have to see how incredibly insane this girl is. Please tell me that you aren't really going to let her do this."

 _"I don't know what to do, Els. It's not like I have any proof to the contrary. It's my word versus theirs, and she honestly believes this garbage."_

"You dump her ass, Micah. That's what you do. She's clearly making things up to control you somehow. There's absolutely no way anyone saw us do any of this."

 _"Yeah, well, she's adamant about it. Says that she has proof and everything."_

"Are you actually believing this? Because you know full well we haven't done anything of the sort. I honestly don't know why you're still with her."

 _"It's complicated. I can't bring myself to just leave her."_

"You _have_ to! She is trying to destroy you! Micah, open your eyes! Look at what she's doing to you."

 _"I don't know how to just leave her. Oh, get this. She also accused me of sleeping with Rose."_

"You can't be serious."

 _"I'm dead serious. I laughed at her when she said that though. That kind of pissed her off."_

"She's incredibly stupid. You have absolutely no obligation to stay with her or to treat her like she's your friend. She isn't. If she were, she wouldn't have done this to you. But, if you want real advice on what to do, I would call Rose. She will definitely have the answer and a game plan. I can even find out right now if she's still up."

 _"She is. She's online right now."_

"Then talk to her Micah. Then call me back when you're done. But I'm gonna lay down, so if I don't answer it, then I'm asleep."

 _"Please, we both know how light of a sleeper you are."_

"Yeah, I know. Besides, Ellie will bark if the phone is ringing anyway. So one way or another, I'm waking up."

 _"Okay, I'm going to do this. I'll let you know what Rose says. Talk to you in a bit."_

"Okay. I'll be here."

00000

The next morning was rather stressful. Micah woke up later than he intended, but wasn't as tired as he had expected. He had barely slept all night, and considering he had so much on his mind, it was no real surprise. But, he was determined and ready to finally do what needed to be done. Even if it wasn't what he had thought he'd ever have to do. It still twisted his stomach some, but it was better than remaining in a completely loveless, almost hateful relationship.

After taking a shower and readying himself for the day, Micah had to spend nearly thirty minutes trying to psych himself up enough to follow through with the plan. He knew that Amber wasn't going to be happy about it, but he didn't really care anymore. His biggest problem was being alone again. That didn't sound at all appealing.

It was nearly 10 am and the rain was pouring down. It was actually wetter than it had been in a couple weeks, which was kind of strange considering the weather this time of year was almost always either freezing rain or snow. Today, the temperature was in the high thirties, meaning it was still extremely cold outside. So, before heading out, he bundled himself up as best he could in his black hoodie. Luckily, his car had a remote start feature, so he had it warming up while he was still inside getting ready.

He was meeting Amber at her house. There was no real plan other than that. Rose said the best thing to do was to just show up, tell her it's over, then leave with his dignity still intact. That's exactly what he had planned on doing. No prolonged nonsense, no pleading or begging, just a cut and dry breakup. It was the best thing to do in the given situation.

After scraping off the last of the frost that the rain somehow hadn't managed to dissolve, he climbed into his car and turned the heat up to full blast. The windows fogged over briefly until they were acclimated to the temperature change. Then, throwing the car into reverse, he was backed out onto the street and headed off to what was going to be the hardest thing he'd ever had to do. At least, that's how his brain was looking at it. A small part of him knew that this wasn't going to be so bad. He just prayed that he could listen to that part long enough to get it over with.

It took him about twenty minutes to get to Amber's place. She lived on the far side of town, and even though that wasn't very far, there was still the roadwork that messed with traffic in several places. Though the work had been put on hold for the winter, the roadways were still a congested mess. The weather also didn't help matters any.

He did eventually manage to make it there in one piece. As he rolled up to the curb outside her house, his stomach began to knot up and twist itself around on him. There was a strong sense of anxiety, and he suddenly didn't think he could go through with it. Just when he was about to turn around and leave, he got a text message. It was from Elsa.

 _Remember to be strong. You can do it. Good luck._

There was no way she could have timed that any better. It brought a nervous smile to his face, but it was what he needed right then to build up the courage to get out of his car. Before he knew it, he was ringing the doorbell, and doing his best not to seem antsy. Then the door opened, and it was some guy he didn't recognize.

"Hey, what's up man?" the guy asked. He was standing there in his boxers, and didn't seem at all concerned that Micah was right there.

"Uh, yeah. Hi. Is Amber here?" he asked nervously.

"Yeah, just a second. Hey babe! Some dude's at the door lookin' for you!"

It took nearly a minute for her to answer the door, and when she did she looked utterly shocked to see Micah standing at her door. He was fuming.

"Micah, um, look. This isn't-"

"Save it. I came over here to have a talk with you, but clearly that isn't necessary. You just made this infinitely easier for me to do. We're through, Amber. I had this big spiel I was going to rattle off to try and make sense of things, and to see if there was some sort of way to salvage this disaster of a relationship, but there's no need now. I'm tired of the lies, and I'm tired of being used. I deserve so much better than you. If this is how you want to live your life, then that's on you. But you're done dragging me down with you."

"Micah, it isn't like that!" she pleaded.

"Amber, there is a half-naked guy in your house that called you 'babe'! So yes, it is exactly like that!"

Grabbing onto Micah's arm, she tried to pull him inside and begged him to stay. "Come on, we can talk about this!"

"No, we can't. There is nothing to discuss," he said as he yanked his arm free. "Goodbye, Amber. Don't bother me ever again."

Before she could say another word, Micah turned and stormed off to his car. As he climbed in, he shot one final glance towards Amber, who had already closed the door and gone back inside. Turning over the ignition, he sat there for a minute, seeing nothing but red. What she did was unforgivable, and it royally pissed him off. In a sudden burst of anger, Micah punched the middle of the steering wheel, causing the horn to sound off. Then he slammed his fist on the wheel again, and again, then yelled at the top of his lungs before nearly collapsing on the steering wheel. He rested his head between his outstretched arms and started to sob. It felt good to let it go finally, but he couldn't control himself. It was the hardest thing he'd ever had to do, and he hated himself. He hated himself for being willing to go through nearly two years of torture with someone he couldn't stand. Someone that had used him, cheated on him, and lied to him. Someone that had the gall to pretend to care the moment they were caught red handed.

But it was New Year's Day, which meant it was time to start over fresh. It was time to move on from the past and look towards a potentially brighter future. There were new opportunities waiting for him, he just had to go out and find them. Hopefully one of them was still waiting for him. But that would have to wait for now. Now, he had to go home and try to catch up on the sleep he had missed out on.

00000

That evening, after he woke up from a solid four hour nap, Micah dragged himself out of bed and grabbed a root beer from the fridge. His mother was out with a friend from work, so he was left alone to do as he pleased. What he wanted to do was just crawl up into a ball and cry himself back to sleep, but he knew that wouldn't be very productive or healthy. So, he instead decided to hop onto his laptop and see if his friends were online. The only one on at the moment was Kristoff, and so he decided to send him a message explaining what happened.

 _Raging Rajang: Hey Kris, you around?_

 _Dominator: Sure am. What's up bud?_

 _Raging Rajang: It's done. I finally broke up with Amber._

 _Dominator: That's great! She was destroying you as a person, man. I know it might suck right this minute, but you'll feel better soon. Then things can get back to the way they were before all this dating nonsense started._

 _Raging Rajang: Yeah, I hope so. I have a lot of bridges that need mending._

 _Dominator: No you don't. You're good with all of us. That much I can promise you._

 _Raging Rajang: I need to set things right with Elsa though. She's been worried sick about me and I've been doing nothing but letting her down._

 _Dominator: Man, Elsa doesn't care about that. She just wants you to be safe and happy. What you were doing was self-destructing right in front of us. It scared the hell out of her._

 _Raging Rajang: I still need to set things right. I owe you all an apology. You tried to warn me about what Amber was doing, and I refused to believe any of you. If I hadn't caught her in the act myself, who knows what would have happened. I might have tried to actually work things out with her._

 _Dominator: Wait, you actually caught her in the act? How?_

 _Raging Rajang: I went over to her house to try and talk to her, though I had the idea that I was just going to break up with her anyway, and some half-naked dude answered the door. I knew right away what was going on. That's when everything clicked. But I was so hurt and angry, I had a breakdown in the car after I broke things off with her._

 _Dominator: Man, that's rough. But hey, now you have time to recover from that craziness. Then, once you're ready, you can finally go after Elsa!_

 _Raging Rajang: Maybe. But that won't be for a little while. I still need time to myself. I'm not alright, Kristoff. I'm just not okay in the head right now. Let's just say that I did go after her, and by some crazy miracle she actually said yes, I would be bringing all my baggage with me, and it's not fair to put that on her. Elsa deserves so much better than that._

 _Dominator: Yeah, I hear ya. So what are you going to do then?_

 _Raging Rajang: I dunno. Probably finish out the school year and see what happens. Hopefully that will give me enough time to recover._

 _Dominator: Yeah, take your time. Elsa isn't going anywhere. Plus, she's already said she's not looking to date anyone else, so you don't have to worry about that._

 _Raging Rajang: Yeah, well, that probably would include me. But let's face it, we will never happen anyway. We're best friends. That's all we've ever been. Not that I've been a very good friend in a long time. I need to fix that. Get back to basics with her._

 _Dominator: Well, I think that sounds like a great plan. Just remember, you never know just how she feels until you try. So, just do what you need to do to truly become best friends again. I know you guys can do it. You have nothing standing in your way now._

 _Raging Rajang: Yeah, you're right. I'm gonna call her up and see what she's up to. Maybe we can go catch a movie or something._

 _Dominator: Do it. I can promise you she'll appreciate it._

 _Raging Rajang: Alright man. Wish me luck._


	20. Chapter 20 - Sweet Dreams

**A/N: So, here we are. Post-Amber territory. The next few chapters are going to be a nice break from all the drama, so I hope you guys enjoy the change of pace for a bit. But don't worry, things will pick back up before too long.**

 **Also, I know you're all waiting for these two to finally just get it over with and hook up. Well, don't worry too much about that. Things are going to happen, and quite possibly sooner than any of you think. Just stick with me. Micah still needs some time to heal, but things will move along soon enough.**

 **Chapter 20**

 _Sweet Dreams_

It was February 14, 2016, and Elsa was sitting at home on her computer watching a documentary about penguins on YouTube. It wasn't really much of a documentary as it was only about ten minutes long, but she still found it fascinating. For some reason, she really enjoyed learning about silly stuff like that. It was part of her inquisitive nature, and her desire to know as much as her mind would let her. It was partly why she was so successful at school; she had a near photographic memory when it came to this sort of thing.

She was logged in on both Skype and Steam, waiting for a game to finish updating. None of her friends were online at the moment, so she had resigned herself to just browsing her usual websites and watching her video. Normally Anna would be in her room playing a game on the PlayStation 4 they got for Christmas, but she was out with Kristoff doing something. She wasn't completely sure, but Elsa had a sneaking suspicion that he had already asked Anna out and they were hiding that fact from everyone. He was only three years older than her, but with her being in middle school still it was seen as sort of taboo. If they were actually dating, then Elsa was happy for them. Kristoff was a great guy in her opinion, and would treat Anna very well.

It was almost noon by the time anyone logged on. The first one was Rose, and as soon as she was on she messaged Elsa.

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Happy Valentine's Day, love!_

 _Frosty Soul: Same to you, sweet cheeks._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Oh my god! Did Elsa just make a joke?_

 _Frosty Soul: I'm trying something new._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: I like it!_

 _Frosty Soul: I do too. It's nice not being so timid and shy all the time. Dr. Cohen is helping out a lot, plus it was my New Years resolution to open up and be a normal person. To not be so scared all the time._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: That's great news! I really hope to see you change. You need to have more fun with life. You're an awesome person and friend, but you need to let loose every now and then._

 _Frosty Soul: Yeah, I'm trying. I don't have the same wit that you guys do with the humor thing though._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Psh, please. You're plenty witty. But telling jokes does take a certain finesse, and the more you do it the more you'll get used to it. I'm gonna have to teach you how to trash talk during Starcraft though. Your game needs some serious tweaking._

 _Frosty Soul: I'll take your word for it._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: So, have you heard from loverboy yet?_

 _Frosty Soul: Not yet. Not even a phone call. I assumed he was just sleeping in._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: I doubt it. He lives on his computer. Have you asked him how his computer classes have been going?_

 _Frosty Soul: Yeah. They're going pretty well, actually. He's becoming decent at programming. I think he said he uses JavaScript at school. I don't know anything about it though._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Has he made up his mind on college yet?_

 _Frosty Soul: Not that I know of. I haven't asked him recently. I'm just focused on getting him ready for the SATs. They changed the scoring system this year, and I have to make sure he will do well enough to even get accepted into college._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Well, even if he doesn't score as high as he'd like this year, he can always retake them next year. That'd give you plenty of time to get him up to speed._

 _Frosty Soul: Yeah. I've been doing my best to get him caught up on everything he was struggling with last year. He managed a C in his math class and a C- in biology last year, so I'm trying to make sure he knows the material so we can make the remainder of this year successful. Right now he's averaging a B-, which isn't bad at all. But I have to stay on top of him if he's going to get his grades back up. If he's going to go to UW with me, he has to get roughly a 3.75 GPA. Right now he's not there. He's still got above a 3.4 though, so that's good. If I can help him get his grades back up to B+ or even A's then there is a chance._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Holy shit. You've really thought this through. But what makes you think he's going to want to go to the same school as you?_

 _Frosty Soul: Because he won't want to go to college alone. He'll flounder if I'm not there to help keep him afloat. With you going off to the Art Institute and Kristoff taking the year off, it's pretty much going to be up to me._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: That boy is incredibly lucky to have you in his life. He'd be a total mess without you. Hell, just look at what happened when he was with Amber._

 _Frosty Soul: I know. That really scared me. But if I can get him accepted into UW, I can keep an eye on him and help him get a good degree. I don't even care what degree he decides to take. As long as it's what he wants, that's good enough for me._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: What about the two of you hooking up?_

 _Frosty Soul: I don't think it'll ever happen. He's been so stubborn about it, and has ignored all the hints I've tried to drop for him. It's up to him to realize that what he wants is right in front of him and is just waiting for him to take it. Like I told you before, I'm not dating anyone else unless it's Micah. If that means I have to be single, then so be it. I'm perfectly happy being by myself anymore. I don't want another Jeremy, and I don't want to be with someone that I won't be able to love as much as they deserve._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: So you don't think you could love anyone else besides Micah?_

 _Frosty Soul: I didn't say that. I just don't think it'd be fair to them if I love someone else even more._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Well, as much as I pray to God that he'll come around, I also wouldn't put life on hold forever. You deserve to be happy._

 _Frosty Soul: Rose, I am happy. I really am. I've got my sister, my mom has finally begun being a part of my life again after all this time, I have the best friends anyone can ask for, and I have Ellie. I'm perfectly content with my life right now. Sure, being with Micah would be a dream come true, but even if that never comes to pass, I'll still be happy having him in my life. I have been since I met him._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Well, I'm still rooting for you. That boy will have to come around sooner or later. Preferably sooner._

 _Frosty Soul: Kristoff already said that Micah plans on waiting until the school year is over before he tries anything. But he's also pretty sure that Micah is on the verge of breaking down and talking to me. I just don't want anyone to push him into something he's not comfortable with or isn't ready for. I want him to be well mentally before he tries to start another relationship._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: No offense Els, but you're not exactly all that much better upstairs. After everything you've been through, I've seen what has happened to you. You've come a long way since Jeremy, but I still see the hurt._

 _Frosty Soul: I know I'm not well. I may never be. But I'm learning how to manage. That's the important part. Learning how to live with yourself after so much damage is hard. I still have my moments of doubt and self-loathing. I still have bouts of depression. I still have the nightmares. Hell, I still can't go into the family room downstairs. It's just a room, Rose. The TV and couches are there. But I can't do it. Too many horrible memories are still there. The only reason I can stay in my room is because it has also always been my happy place away from things. Yes, it's been sullied by my father's sickness, but at the same time so much good has happened here. Everything from having you guys all sleep over and having fun to my dog keeping watch over me while I sleep. So the good outweighs the bad here. But the family room is nothing but bad._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: I'm confident that you'll one day overcome that, sweetie. You're strong, stronger than just about anyone I've ever met. I know you can do it._

 _Frosty Soul: Thanks. But I don't feel strong much. I usually feel pretty weak._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Nonsense. After everything you've endured, you're still standing. You are still full of life and love. You are easily one of the strongest people I have ever known. You just have to learn how to recognize that. You also have to learn how to love yourself._

 _Frosty Soul: I know. I'm trying. Dr. Cohen is helping me with that as well. She has me doing these daily affirmations that I have to say to myself. It's hard though. I know that they're supposed to make me feel better, but I don't know if it's working. She also has me reassess everything I have going in my life on a daily basis as well, and that does help._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Well good. Just keep doing what she tells you to do. The woman has been working with you for a very long time. She has watched you grow up. I think she knows you better than you know yourself. Micah too._

 _Frosty Soul: You're probably right._

While she was in the middle of typing, she heard the doorbell ring, but before she could get up to answer it, she heard her mother at the door talking to whoever it was. For a moment, Elsa went back to her conversation with Rose, until her mother called for her. When she got up and walked down the hall to the door, she saw Micah standing there with a dozen roses and a box of chocolates in his hands, and a big goofy grin on his face.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Els," he said happily.

Elsa covered her mouth with her hands and slowly made her way down the stairs. When she got to the landing with the front door, she stood there dumbstruck.

"Micah, what is all this?" she asked, getting teary-eyed.

"It's my surprise to you. I know I've been kind of a crumby friend the last couple years, and then you had to deal with Jeremy, so I wanted to do something special for you. I figured you deserved it after, well, everything."

Slowly Elsa wrapped her arms around Micah, embracing him in the most intimate of hugs. She was starting to cry, but it was out of happiness rather than sorrow.

"This is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me," she whispered into his ear. "Thank you so much."

"Hey, it's no problem. I just wanted to see you happy. I hope this did the trick."

"You have no idea," she said before kissing him on the cheek. He instantly light up like a fire truck.

"Oh, by the way, this isn't everything."

"It's not? What more can there possibly be?"

"I'm taking you to see a movie. Deadpool, actually."

"Deadpool? Seriously? That'd be awesome!"

"Yeah, seriously. So go get ready. It starts in an hour."

Taking the roses and chocolate from him, she ran as fast as she could back up the stairs with her arms full. In a whirlwind of clothes and frantic searching, she finally found something she thought would be decent to wear and threw it on as fast as possible. Then she remembered her conversation with Rose.

 _Frosty Soul: Hey Rose, I'm sorry but I gotta go. Micah is here and he's taking me to see Deadpool._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: That's awesome! You two go have a nice date and I'll catch you later!_

 _Frosty Soul: It is NOT a date!_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Whatever you say, love. Talk to you later._

Closing her laptop and doing a last minute check to make sure she was ready, Elsa snatched up her purse and bolted out the door. It was going to be the best Valentine's Day ever.

00000

It was late March, and the weather had switched over from cold, freezing winter rain to cold springtime rain. The temperature was only about ten degrees warmer than it was a month prior, but it was officially spring. The flowers and trees were starting to return to their natural, lively state, and the animals had finally started coming out of hibernation. It was as if life was beginning to resume.

Elsa and Anna were out taking Ellie for her morning walk before school. They only took her around the block, so it wasn't a very long walk at all. But it was enough for the dog to get out and stretch her legs some. They had to stop every few feet as she had to sniff just about everything, including other people as they passed by. But she was a friendly dog, and never barked or acted aggressive in any way. She was still a puppy, only being roughly two years old, and so she had a lot of energy and life in her. Luckily, she was well-behaved. The previous owners had trained her well, and Elsa was taking her to obedience school on the weekends, even though it really didn't seem necessary. It was more for her than for Ellie though. Elsa wanted to make sure she knew what she was doing as a dog owner.

They had to make it a quick walk this morning though, because Elsa had brownies in the oven and she wanted to be back in time to get them out. The spring bake sale was today at school, and Elsa had volunteered to take part. She had several batches of brownies and cupcakes, all made from scratch. She couldn't stand the pre-made mixes you bought at the store. She even made her own frosting for the cupcakes. Baking had become something Elsa really enjoyed. Cooking was always something she was actually good at, and she learned at a young age when she started helping her mother out with dinner. Thanksgiving meals had been a big learning experience for her.

When they got back, their senses were immediately assaulted by the sweet, chocolaty smell of brownies about ready to be removed from the oven. She had already made two batches the night before, and had four batches of cupcakes. The frosting recipe she had followed ended up making way more than she needed, so her and Anna ended up helping themselves after everything else was done.

By the time she was ready to head to school, her brownies were done and cut up into as close to perfectly square pieces as she could manage. The back of the car already had all the extra stuff she'd need for her table, and she was pretty happy with how the treats all turned out. So, she packed everything in the backseat of the SUV and got ready to go. She'd have to drop Anna off at school first, but that wasn't far out of the way. It just meant that they'd have to leave a few minutes earlier than normal.

After dropping off her sister, she found herself parked in the school parking lot as close to the building as she could get. Normally Micah would have ridden with her, but he said he had something to take care of before heading to school and would have to drive himself. That was fine by her. The backseats were taken up with the delicious treats anyway, so there wasn't much room if he had tagged along. He did at least promise to stop by her table during the sale and buy a few brownies and cupcakes. That was enough to brighten her day.

The sale would take place during lunch, which meant she would have to eat later on, but she didn't normally eat much to begin with so it was okay. By the time lunch rolled around, she was already out at her car packing in everything. Kristoff had offered to help her out, so he got out of class a little early to help everyone set up for the sale. Elsa's table was set up just across from the lunch room entrance, which meant just about everyone would have to pass by at some point.

As she set up her table, she glanced up and down the hall at the other tables. There were actually quite a few people participating this year, including some of the teachers. There were about eight tables in all. Most had the typical stuff, such as fudge and brownies, or the ever popular chocolate chip cookies. One of the teachers, Mr. Sullivan, brought in homemade scones, which Elsa was dying to try. She made a mental note to stop by his table before they were done.

Once lunch actually started, the halls became overly crowded and a mass of bodies slithered by as everyone made their way to the cafeteria. Right away people stopped by the various tables to try out the treats that were presented on them. Even Elsa's was seeing some customers, considering how many other tables there were. There ended up being enough people that she had to ask Kristoff for assistance in handling the money. At some point, Elsa wasn't sure when, Rose and Micah had found their way to her. They had to stand in line with everyone else, but luckily by the time they arrived the line was pretty short.

"Hey girl," Rose said as she stepped up to the front of the line with a big grin on her face. "Why don't you hand me one of your delicious looking cupcakes?"

Elsa rolled her eyes and smirked before handing her friend one of the chocolate cupcakes she had made. "I'm going to ignore you embarrassing euphemism this time. But if you're really good I'll give you one of my special cupcakes later."

Rose was mid-bite when she choked on some crumbs. "Damn it, Elsa! When did you start getting dirty?"

"I told you, I'm trying something new. Now just sit back and enjoy."

Micah was next, but he refrained from making any jokes. Instead he just took one of the brownies and moaned as he took a bite.

"I forgot how good your cooking is. It's been awhile since you made anything for me," he said around a mouthful of brownie.

"Well, if you came around more often on the weekends I would cook for you. I enjoy doing it."

"Clearly. I am so coming over for dinner on Friday."

"I'm looking forward to it," Elsa said with a wink.

She was feeling good. Better than she had in a long time, in fact. She was opening up and expressing herself more, and it felt great.

"In fact, I want all of you guys to come over for dinner this weekend. There's a recipe I've been wanting to try, and it will make enough for everyone. How does that sound?"

All three of them chimed their approval before grabbing another treat off the table. Her brownies had been a hit, and the cupcakes were dwindling in numbers. She may not have had the most successful table, but she didn't really care. All the money was going towards the school anyway. The school was looking to upgrade the computers in the labs to something a little more modern, and to get drawing tablets for the art students. Elsa was all for that.

As she was in the middle of cleaning up her table, Micah tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention. When she turned around to face him, he drew her into a big hug.

"I just wanted to tell you how much I appreciate you, Els," he said into her ear.

Blushing, Elsa smiled broadly at the comment. "Thank you, Micah, but you don't have to do that. I already know you do."

"I know, but I wanted to show you too. I mean, you've done so much for me since we were little. Sure, I kept Marshall away as best I could, but you always took care of me and made sure I was doing alright. Every time I got hurt, you would rush over to me and make sure I was okay. Hell, even now you still have to clean up any stupid cuts or scrapes I happen to get because I can't handle the blood. And the tutoring? I wouldn't be nearly as successful here if it wasn't for you. You might have been the one with the messed up childhood, but you're also the one that's had it the together the most. You still are. I don't know how you do it. You're insanely smart, you're organized, and you know exactly what you want out of life. Me? I'm still trying to figure out who I am. There's only one thing I'm sure of, but that doesn't really matter. At least, not right now. Maybe someday. Anyway, I wanted to say thanks, and to let you know just how grateful I am to have you in my life."

Elsa was standing there blushing and starting to weep. She didn't know why she always got so emotional when he said these sorts of things, but she did. It always made her insanely happy to hear him compliment her or thank her for anything. The best part was, she knew that he sincerely meant it.

"Micah, I don't know what to say," Elsa said through a sniffle. "I mean, that's really sweet of you, but you don't have to thank me. I've been doing the best I can to look after you because I care. I don't want you to fall behind, and I don't ever want to see you hurt. I remember when your dad was arrested and how much that bothered you. Or when he got home that first time and your mother filed for divorce. That broke your little heart. I did everything I could back then to comfort you, just like you've always done for me. Then there was Amber, and you don't know how much that tore me apart to watch you get dragged down by her. I'm just so thankful that you finally realized how dangerous that situation was. I tried my best to stay out of it, but I couldn't for much longer. But I do think you did the right thing, even if it still hurts."

"It doesn't hurt as much anymore. I'm mostly over it. Or her, rather. The pain is still there, but not as much anymore. But I still lie awake at night and wonder why the hell it happened to me. Why did she do what she did? Why was I stupid enough to stay with her? Why do I feel so empty now? I have these thoughts that pass through my head, thoughts that I can't control, and I have to wonder why I'm so utterly worthless. What have I done to deserve the bad things that happened to me? Or you. What did you do to deserve your dad being a sick bastard, or for Jeremy to beat the hell out of you? Why do these things keep happening to us?"

"Micah, sweetheart, you can't think like that. That's how these destructive thoughts keep you down. Believe me, I've been going through this my whole life. I know exactly what is happening to you. But you can't let those voices and thoughts win. They will cause you nothing but pain and suffering. Besides, you most certainly are not worthless. You mean everything to me, so that has to give you some value. Rose and Kristoff think highly of you, too."

"Yeah, I know. I try really hard to fight them. But they've been keeping me up at night a lot lately. I don't know why."

"Maybe you can use the same affirmations I have to use daily. They actually have started to help. You just have to keep telling yourself that you matter to someone, and that gives you worth."

"Maybe you're right."

"I know I am. Promise me that you'll give it a chance. It really will help."

"Okay. I promise."

"Good. Now then, I have to get this stuff cleaned up. Feel like helping me?"

"Of course."

00000

That night, Elsa was lying in bed thinking back to the conversation she had with Micah. A lot was said, and it was sweet of him to have thanked her for just doing what friends should do for one another. It swelled her heart with joy. She had watched him change slowly since he left Amber back in January, and it was for the better. He was finally becoming happy again. Elsa couldn't really remember the last time she saw him with a genuine smile. It must have been back before she had started dating Jeremy.

It was nearly 1 am before sleep finally took hold, and she had the first good dream she'd had in a long time. Normally, they were nightmares of what her father put her through, or more recently, what Jeremy did to her. But this time it was a good dream. It was of her and Micah actually walking through the park holding hands. They were talking, though at first she couldn't tell what was being said. But the looks on their faces told her that it had to have been good. Something positive. All she knew was that she had never been so happy.

Surprisingly, when her alarm went off for school, she woke up feeling refreshed. She had managed to sleep through the entire night, and didn't have a single nightmare. All she had dreamt of was her and Micah simply holding hands and walking through the park talking about their day. He had placed a flower in her hair, and brushed a stray strand back behind her ear. It was romantic. Then the topic of their future together came up. A future she desperately longed for. She just hoped that he didn't wait much longer.


	21. Chapter 21 - What the Future Holds

**Chapter 21**

 _What the Future Holds_

In early April, things at school became more intense. A lot of the teachers were preparing the juniors and seniors to take the SATs, and had been for the last couple months. Classes were more focused, and more practice tests were being taken than in the earlier part of the school year. Since a lot of the students had already taken the SATs or were getting ready to do so, it was the perfect opportunity for them to be prepared for what to expect.

Micah had been struggling more than usual with the material, at least in his math class. His chemistry class wasn't going nearly as badly as anyone had expected for him. It was almost as if something clicked in his head and he started to just get it. He was maintaining a B+, so Elsa was able to relax more than in the past. All she really had to do was focus on helping him keep his math grade up. She knew that that was going to be the toughest section on the SATs for him, and she just wanted to be sure he wouldn't do poorly. It was important to her that he succeed.

Elsa was actually rather thankful for the extra effort the teachers were putting in to get the kids ready. It helped her stay on her toes and make sure she herself was ready. She had no doubts of her capabilities, although it made her feel kind of arrogant to think that way. That simply wasn't the case. But she knew what she was capable of, and she was confident that she would do well. In fact, she was confident in all her friends as well. She knew that at least Kristoff and Rose would do well enough to get into the schools they wanted to go to. Micah was the only one she was concerned with, but even then she knew that if she kept tutoring him the way she had been that he would do well enough. She knew what parts of the math studies he struggled with, and so she made sure to focus extra hard on those with him so he could pull through and actually get the hang of it. He had always said he preferred the way she taught him versus how the teachers did, and that he always understood the material far better because of it.

It had been decided that they would take the tests in May, giving themselves extra time to prepare. Elsa had taken the liberty of signing all four of them up, which they didn't mind. It just meant that they were now more or less obligated to actually follow through. Micah was actually worried about taking the tests, but didn't voice his concerns to his friends at all. He didn't want them worrying about him, since they did that enough as it was. But his biggest problem was he didn't think he could focus. He was still battling his internal issues with the depression and feeling of worthlessness that Amber left him with. It consumed his thoughts more often than he wanted to admit, and it made it difficult to function.

By the time May hit, the gang was ready. The tests were being administered the first Saturday of the month, so Elsa decided to pick everyone up that morning so they could all arrive together. She figured that they could all go out to eat or something afterwards to celebrate. On the way, she could see that Micah wasn't looking nearly as into the idea as the others were. When they got to the school and parked, Elsa turned to him and tried to give him some words of encouragement.

"Micah, you're going to do just fine. You've been preparing for this for months," she told him as sweetly as she could.

"I dunno. I mean, the math part still scares me. I'm not really worried about the other stuff so much. Besides, that's not all," he said.

"What else is there?" Kristoff asked.

"I haven't been telling you guys because I didn't want you to worry, but I've been thinking about Amber. A lot. Like, all the stuff she did to me, the way she made me feel, everything. It's made it really hard to focus on school, and I think about it all night when I try to sleep."

"You can't let that bitch ruin your life, sweetie. Just forget about her, at least for the next few hours. After that, we can deal with it as needed," Rose chimed in.

"She's right. You can't do this to yourself. Not right now. This is too important to let her get in the way," Elsa added earnestly.

"Look, I'll try my best to forget about her," he promised. "But, I can't guarantee it'll work. I just don't know if I'm strong enough for that. Besides, I'm nervous as hell about taking this test as it is."

"Like I said, you'll do fine. I know what you know, and I am confident in your ability to do well. You have to just trust me on this, and then trust yourself. So let's get in there and kick this thing in the ass."

With that, they climbed out of Elsa's car and made their way into the cafeteria where the test was being held. The room was large enough for the amount of students that were there to take the tests, and by the time the gang got there there were already quite a number of people sitting and waiting. The testing was to start at 9 am, so they had roughly fifteen minutes to find some seats and mentally prepare themselves. About fifty desks had been brought into the lunch room and lined up, and over half of them were already filled. For some reason, that was making Micah feel kind of anxious. He had never cared for large crowds, which was why he always tried to beat the rush to the cafeteria, and it was also often the reason for him being late to class. He'd have to wait for things to die down enough so he could walk from class to class without feeling overwhelmed. But it's something he had kept hidden from everyone, even Elsa. Not even his mother knew. It wasn't even something he ever thought about. It was so natural and second nature to him that he never put any thought into it. He just knew he didn't need to bother the others with it.

Soon it was 9 am, and the proctor began handing out the test to everyone. Apparently it was broken up so that there could be breaks in between each section. That made Micah feel a little bit better. At least then he could have Elsa reassure him everything was going to be fine. She would tell him that he knew the material and would fly through it with ease. He needed that. It's something he craved. Her approval and reinforcement meant a great deal to him. If she hadn't been there to encourage him then he likely would have failed. The last thing he needed to do was let her down.

The first sixty minutes flew by, and at the end of it his brain felt like it was going to melt and ooze out of his ears. The sad thing was that was only the first portion. There were two more that would be just as stressful. When they were allowed to get up and stretch, he looked to the others who were already circled up and talking. So, he decided to get up and join them and pray that they were finding it as difficult as he was.

"Hey guys," he said as he approached the group. "Kind of tough, isn't it?"

"I didn't find it to be that tough at all," Rose replied. "Just got stuck on a couple questions. But otherwise it wasn't that difficult."

"Yeah, I found it pretty easy," Kristoff added.

"Guys, you're not helping any," Elsa said sternly. "Micah, like I told you before, I'm positive you're doing fine. I looked over at you several times and I saw how far along you were. You were keeping up well enough that I didn't have any concerns. The critical reading part isn't that bad for some people, but I can see how it would be difficult for others. But you came ready, so there's no problems. Next is the math portion. So, just focus like I taught you and do the best you can. I'm positive that you'll make it through it."

"You're absolutely sure? You don't think I might fail?" he asked.

"No, I don't. I am one hundred percent positive that you'll do well. I prepared you myself. I know what you're capable of. There shouldn't be anything on the test that you don't know. If you come to a problem you can't figure out, just skip it and then go back to it later. You want to get as much done as you can, so don't stay stuck on one very long. I'd say two minutes or so. If you can't figure it out in that time, move on to the next one. Missing one question is far better than not having enough time to finish ten more."

"Yeah, okay. That makes sense. I'll do that. Thanks."

"You're welcome. Just have some faith and you'll be fine."

As soon as the next portion of the test started, the room fell silent once more. It was a bit more stressful than the previous section, primarily because Micah was positive he had no idea what he was doing. It was almost as if his brain had gone blank, and he was staring at a page covered in Chinese. But, he took a deep breath, closed his eyes for a brief moment, then plunged in headfirst to try and tackle the beast. Every time he got stuck on a problem, he remembered what Elsa said and did exactly as she told him. He found that it wasn't that bad after a little bit, and that he had begun psyching himself out for no real reason. The math was tough for him for sure, but luckily he was able to use a calculator for roughly half of it.

Though it felt like it took forever, the second period of the test was soon over, and they had another short break. Elsa congratulated him on finishing the math portion, as he was almost positive he wouldn't have enough time. She could see the stress and concern on his face, and she did the best she could to reassure him that the worst was over. All that was left was the writing section, and he was pretty good at that stuff. So he felt a bit better knowing that there was at least one portion he wouldn't have to struggle with.

Finally the last portion of the test was handed out, and Micah breathed a sigh of relief as he was working his way through the thing. Time went fairly quickly, unlike the math section where it seemed to drag on. The whole thing ended on a fairly high note, and he was thankful for that. He didn't think he'd be able to handle much more.

There was an essay portion as well, but it was completely optional. Micah chose to not bother with it, and when it was time to turn the tests in he stretched and felt a thousand times better having completed the hardest test he's ever had to take. When he looked over at his friends, they were chatting away. He felt good though, better than he had expected to. The best part was he was able to keep all that terrible stuff about Amber out of his head.

As they were walking out to the car, Elsa glanced up at Micah and smiled at him.

"I'm really proud of you. I have faith that you did well. I have no doubts in my mind about that," she said proudly.

"Thanks, but you might want to hold off on that until we get the results back. How long does that take?" he asked.

"It should only take a couple weeks. We'll know before the month is over for sure."

"Cool. So what now?"

"I think we're headed out for pizza, if you want to come with." Elsa's eyes were pleading with him to say yes.

"Why would I skip out on that? Let's go!"

00000

That evening, her friends were over for dinner, and she was in the kitchen making some pasta with a homemade white cream sauce. It was another one of those things that she refused to buy pre-made, and she felt that it always tasted better made from scratch. Everyone else seemed to agree, because they all loved her cooking. They had become rather spoiled, and spent nearly every weekend at her place for dinner. Or lunch sometimes. And breakfast. In fact, they often spent the entire weekend at her place just for the food alone, although they did rather enjoy hanging out with her. Especially ever since she started opening up more and acting goofier than she used to.

Elsa and Anna were both in the kitchen preparing dinner. Anna had been learning from Elsa how to bake, and she took it upon herself to make some dinner rolls for everyone. It wasn't something she had done a lot, but she'd done it a few times and knew the process more or less. She still had to ask Elsa questions, but not nearly as much as she had to when she first started. Anna didn't want to be useless, and did her best to help out with meals as best she could. Her sister loved the fact that she was so willing to help and learn, and had no problem teaching her how to cook any of the food she made.

The others were in the dining room preparing for a night of Dungeons & Dragons. They had done that on occasion since Micah first asked Elsa about it a few years ago, and it was sort of a thing they did when they weren't killing one another in Startcraft or dying miraculously in Dark Souls III or Bloodborne. Rose was the dungeon master, since she was the most imaginative of the group. It kind of came with the territory of being an artist. Elsa had tried running the game a few times too, and she proved to be rather malicious and diabolical in her adventures. The sessions when she was in charge usually proved to be almost too challenging, but they still ended up having fun.

They were sitting there waiting for Elsa to finish fidgeting with the sauce she was making so they could get back to the adventure. Rose currently had them storming some lich's stronghold, and there was a war being waged outside the walls. The party was part of an infiltration squad that managed to work its way inside, and they were looking for some allies that had been taken prisoner. The lich was too powerful for them to take on their own, but it was the main villain for Rose's campaign. Instead, they were stuck dealing with the hordes of undead that roamed the fortress. Luckily, they had Micah, who was a 5th level elvish priest named Ashven. He had the ability to turn undead, which helped control the abominations some. A paladin could have done the same thing, but to a lesser degree.

It didn't take long for dinner to finish cooking and be served, and as soon as they were told the food was ready they were swarming the kitchen like a pack of hungry wolves. Lucky for Elsa, she had made enough so that everyone could have seconds if they were still hungry. She knew that at least Kristoff and Micah would certainly head back for more. Rose could pack it away too when she wanted to, but sometimes decided to be civil and just eat what a normal person could manage.

After everyone was done moaning over how delicious the food was and they were stuffed beyond capacity, they decided it was time to resume their game. Anna had finally decided to join in on the fun, and chose to play as a mercenary for hire. She was a spellsword, able to cut people down or burn them alive with a fireball. Both were equally cool in her opinion, and she made sure to take advantage of that whenever she got a chance. It happened more often than she had initially thought. Rose liked to toss all sorts of critters and bad guys at them to fight, so Anna got to see a lot of action.

Kristoff chose to just go with a warrior. He liked the idea of being thick headed and able to chop things down with big ass swords or axes. Or smash things with warhammers. Whichever seemed right for the occasion, or would cause the most pain and misery on his opponents. His character wasn't too terribly bright, but he was strong, and at the end of the day, that's all that really mattered. He didn't fully trust magic, although he did have a magic gauntlet that gave him giant-like strength. This allowed him to wield two-handed weapons with one hand as if they weighed nothing.

When creating her character, Elsa decided on making an elusive sorceress. A being born with the touch of the arcane coursing through her veins. The exact causation of her powers was a mystery, and her goal in life was to learn where her powers came from. Able to call on the magnificent and dangerous powers of fire and ice was something that drew her to the class. She liked the idea of having immense power, but needing caution to control and wield it. There were so many possibilities waiting for her to take advantage of that it was almost overwhelming. She didn't possess any magic artifacts like the others did, but she didn't really need to. Her powers more than made up for it. That didn't change the fact that she was looking for something in particular, but it was something that was rumored to be in possession of the lich. Which was enough to urge her to join on this little suicide mission.

Rose took pleasure in harassing them though. She would send wave after wave of shambling skeletons and mindless zombies, with some ghouls mixed in for good measure. It was fortunate, though, that the party was ready for such an event. They were all high enough level that the monsters really weren't a threat. Whatever Micah couldn't turn a way with his priestly powers, the others would destroy without a second thought.

Eventually they made their way into the interior of the stronghold, and located the prison cells. After a particularly tough fight with the jailer and his hounds, the group was able to free the prisoners and escort them back out to what was relative safety. Then there was a debate between the party about whether or not they should pursue the lich and at least try to take it down. There were four of them, plus several other non-player characters in the party, so they figured that they could at least make an effort. Elsa secretly hoped that they would, so she could try and find the object she was looking for. The others knew full well why she was all for going after the lich, but they weren't that thrilled at the prospect of possibly dying horribly.

She did manage to finally convince them to make an effort, and after making some preparations they set off for the lich's throne room. Rose had to throw more monsters at them in order to slow their progress, though it all culminated in them breaking down the doors to the inner sanctum of the stronghold where the lich was to be found, only to find that the throne room was utterly empty. There was no undead host waiting for them, or some other abomination poised to strike. There was literally nothing there besides an empty chair.

"Well shit," Kristoff exclaimed as he scratched his head in confusion. "I was kind of expecting there to actually be something here."

"Besides an empty throne, the chamber is completely barren," Rose repeated.

"I want to cast detect magic," Micah called out.

"Really, Micah? We're in the middle of an undead fortress. There's going to be magic everywhere," Elsa reminded him.

"Yeah, but I'm trying to see if there is anything in the room. I mean, there is no other door leading out is there?"

"Only the doors leading out to either side, and the one you came in through," Rose stated.

"Then I want to cast my spell on the doors. Maybe the lich left behind some sort of magic residue or something."

"I don't think it works that way, bud," Kristoff said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Why not?" Anna asked.

"Because I say it doesn't," Rose answered sternly.

"I'm telling you, it's a complete waste of time. Save your spells for another time," Elsa urged him.

"Fine. You guys have fun figuring this one out," he said grumpily.

"Don't be like that. Help us search the room."

"What exactly are we looking for?" Anna asked, curious.

"I don't know. Something. Anything, really. Trap door, hidden portal, false wall...stuff like that. Just do search checks everywhere. It'd be nice if we had a rogue though. Find and disarm traps could be useful here."

"So, what's it gonna be? Who's doing what?" Rose finally asked.

"Alright, I'm going to search the walls in the back of the room, Anna you search the throne for anything suspicious, and Kristoff, you and Micah check those doors and see what's behind them."

"Wait, when did you become group leader?" Micah asked her, suspicious of her actions.

"When you guys were making bad decisions and nearly got us killed. Twice."

"Hey, that wasn't my fault! I was standing in the back of the party like I'm supposed to!"

"Micah, you're a priest that specializes in blunt weapons and medium armor. You should have been up front with Kristoff and Anna when we ran into that mummy lord and his squadron. You can freaking turn undead. Not only that, but your healing spells can hurt them. So yeah, it was partially your fault."

"I'm not the one that critically failed to cast a fireball spell at the mummies and ghouls."

"You can't blame me for the roll of the dice."

"You're being impossible right now!"

"Micah, I'm being logical here. What you did could have been remedied if you had gone up to the front with the others and fought. What I did was simply an unlucky roll of the dice, which is something that can and has happened to all of us. Could I have chosen a different spell to cast? Sure. But the undead are weak to fire, and I had a clear shot."

"Whatever. Let's just search this room already and get this over with."

"Please don't be like this. I don't want you mad."

"Let's just do this and get you that ring or whatever."

"It's a staff."

"Like I said, let's just do this."

"Alright, are you guys finished bickering?" Rose asked impatiently.

"Yes. I'm going to search the back of the room for just about anything," Elsa declared.

"Alright. You feel around the wall and notice a small breeze blowing through the cracks. You're not sure what is on the other side, but you can hear the clinking of metal on metal."

"Okay, can I search the walls for a hidden switch or button?"

Rolling one of the die, Rose looks up and smiles wickedly. "Sorry, but you don't find anything."

"What's with that look?" Kristoff asked.

"Oh, nothing," Rose said innocently.

"Why don't I believe you?"

"Do I find anything on my side of the room?" Micah interrupted.

"Besides the door that Elsa told you to check out, no," Rose deadpanned.

"Fine, I'll search the door," he said impatiently. "Like, I'll open it and see where it goes."

"It's locked."

"Of course it is. Can I use my mace to bash it open?"

"You can try, but you don't really have a good strength modifier."

"Jesus Christ. Okay, Kristoff, check your door then come help me."

"Yeah, sure," the burly blonde said. "I'm gonna poke my head out the door there."

"Okay, all you see is a storage closet full or useless junk," Rose told him.

"Who the hell puts a storage closet inside a throne room?"

"I do."

"Alright, I guess I'll go over and help bash Micah's door in."

After another roll of the die, Rose ends up frowning and looks almost disappointed. "Okay, you bust down the door, and on the other side is an empty hallway."

"Why do you look like we just ruined your plans?" Micah asked.

"Because that door had a nice little trap, but Kristoff broke it."

The two boys high-fived each other and laughed. Elsa and Anna sat there patiently waiting for them to figure out what is going on.

"Okay Anna, your turn," Rose said after the small celebration was over.

Rubbing her hands together, Anna was getting a little excited that she finally got to do something. "Alright, I want to search the throne. I figure there's gotta be something special if there is a crack in the wall, so hopefully there's like a hidden lever or something."

With the clattering of some dice, Rose actually grins at Anna, but it's not malicious like normal. It's almost one of pride. "Good job, kiddo. You find a part of the throne that moves in a manner that it shouldn't, and you hear a loud click. After a few seconds, there's a loud grinding sound as the wall at the back of the room slowly slides apart, revealing a tunnel. You can hear some sort of screaming coming from deeper below, but it doesn't sound human."

"Alright, I think we know what we're going to do. Let's head on down," Elsa said, ushering the others to follow her lead.

Down they traveled into the dark depths beneath the stronghold. The gloom was heavy and thick, or at least that's how Rose described it. Their characters traveled quite a ways, and when they finally reached the bottom they came to a large metallic door that was seemingly built into the earth. It was slightly ajar already, meaning something had gone in, or come out, recently. The party decided that it would be prudent to sneak inside and see exactly what was going on. After making the appropriate stealth checks for everyone, they slipped by the large door, making sure not to touch it and cause any noise.

Once inside they quickly noticed that it was a large tomb. Elsa surmised that it must have been some royal tomb for whoever used to rule the stronghold before the lich took over. But that wasn't the main attraction. Standing at the back of the chamber was a man dressed in heavy armor and a black cloak. He had several skeletons surrounding him, and didn't seem all that friendly.

"Um, what is this? Is this the lich?" Micah asked in confusion.

"Nope, this is a death knight," Rose replied cheerfully.

"You're way too happy about that."

"I am. Now then, he's not standing around waiting for you guys to make up your minds on what you're gonna do. He's instructing his skeletons to attack."

"How many are we talking here?" Kristoff asked, eyes narrowed.

"Twenty."

"Okay, that's a lot of skeletons."

"If we can take him out, then we don't have to worry about the skeletons, right?" Elsa asked.

"Technically," Rose responded.

"I'm going to ignore you for now. Let's just focus on the death knight."

So, an epic battle of dice rolls and charging in yelling battle cries at the top of their lungs proceeded, and there were some casualties on both sides. Several of the non-player characters died in the conflict, and Micah ended up critically wounded after turning back nearly half of the skeletons that attacked. Elsa and Anna managed to burn up several as they worked their way to the death knight, and Kristoff just charged headfirst into the fray and barreled through the skeletons like they were nothing. By the time their characters actually made it to the death knight, they were pretty weakened. But, through stubbornness and teamwork, they managed to actually take the thing out, if only temporarily.

"Okay, just so you guys know, death knights can't be permanently killed unless they fulfill whatever task it is that keeps them holding onto the material plane. But for now, he's toast."

"Good. Now, is there anywhere else to go down here?" Micah asked while he tried to keep his character from dying.

"Oh, yeah. There's another big ass door right behind where the death knight was standing."

"Of course there is."

"Okay, well give us a few minutes to recuperate before we plow forward and try to tackle whatever is on the other side of that door," Elsa said.

After everyone had rested up for a few and were ready to get back to it, Kristoff's character had the task of forcing the new set of doors open. They were heavy and rusted, and barely budged as he pushed. So, the other three had to help the best they could to open them enough so they could squeeze through. It made a terrible amount of noise, which did not work out in their favor at all.

On the other side of the door was an eerie purple glow. They weren't really sure what was causing it, but they all assumed it was the lich's doing. Once they were all inside, they noticed that the staff Elsa had been searching for was jutting out of the ground at the back of the chamber. Thankfully, Elsa knew better than to run out and get it. Instead, she hung back with the others as they slowly approached it.

"Alright, so it's there right in front of you, Els. Are you gonna go grab it or what?" Rose asked.

"No, because I don't trust you," she retorted.

"Hey, I've been pretty good to you this whole time. What makes you think I'm about to stop now?"

"Because you always find some way to dick us over," Kristoff said.

"Is the staff what's causing the glowing or what?" Anna asked.

"You don't know. But the glowing is pulsating, kind of like a heartbeat," Rose said.

"Okay, well if Elsa isn't going to take it, I will. I'm gonna walk up to it and grab it."

"Micah, you idiot!" all three groaned at once.

"Okay, you grab the staff, and then find that you can't let go. You suddenly feel like your very life is being sucked out of you. You start to grow weary and cold, and you fall to your knees. Sound and vision become distorted, and you can barely breathe." As Rose described what was happening to Micah, the others folded their arms and shook their heads in shame. Micah was feeling a little stupid at his decision.

"Is there any way we can free him, Rose?" Elsa asked.

"I can't tell you that! You're gonna have to figure it out on your own. But I will say that one of you has the capacity to save him. And once you save him, you might just be able to take the staff for yourself. Provided it still has power."

"Micah, if you break my staff I am going to be furious with you."

"It's not like I did it on purpose!" he said defensively.

"What did you expect would happen?"

"I dunno. I figured if I grabbed it it would break whatever spell was being cast."

"That's not at all how that works," Anna retorted.

"Alright, someone has to have the ability to save our priest's ass. I sure don't," Kristoff lamented.

"I don't have any spells that break curses. Or heal, for that matter," Elsa said with frustration.

"I have that healing wind spell that Rose gave me," Anna said. "I'm gonna cast that."

"That's not even a real spell," Kristoff interjected.

"It totally is now," Rose said dismissively. "Alright, cast the spell and roll the die. See what happens."

As Anna rolled the die, Rose rubbed her hands together and smiled. Everyone looked at her expectantly.

"So, what happens? It healed him for the full amount," Anna said.

"It's a critical success. Not only do you bring his sorry ass back from the brink of death, the light in the room fades, leaving only your torches. Micah's hands are free, and he has regained his strength."

"Okay, I'm not doing that again," Micah said as an apology.

"I certainly hope not," Elsa replied. "Okay, I'm going to grab the staff and yank it out of the ground."

"Alright, it slides free after a little bit of effort. You can feel an energy of some sort pulsating from it and into your veins. You feel more alive than you ever have. On top of that, you can see clearly in the room without the aid of the torches."

"What, like night vision?"

"Sort of, but minus the grainy green glow to everything. It's more like low-light vision, only you don't need light to see. It just illuminates everything like it's in the shade."

"Well, I can't complain about that. Does it boost my magic like it's supposed to?"

"Technically, I can't tell you that because your character wouldn't know that. But yes, your spells do double the damage now, and you can prepare more spells in advance."

"So wait, she gets this bad ass staff that turns her into a walking death machine, and I get a ring that gives me one extra chance to heal someone once a day?" Micah asked in a whiny voice.

"Don't be such a baby," Kristoff said.

"At least you have something totally useful. You can swing around battle axes and claymores like they're butter knives. And Anna has that sword that can shoot fire out of it randomly. I have a freaking ring that does practically nothing."

"Quit complaining Micah. You were the first one to get a magic item, and you got it at level one," Rose said. She was rolling her eyes at him, and was kind of sick of his attitude.

"Yeah, but mine kind of sucks. At least theirs are useful. What does my ring do? Oh, it lets me heal one extra time. That's really going to save us."

"Fine. If it bothers you that much, I'll just take the ring away."

"That's not what I said."

"That's how you're acting though. Besides, that ring was plenty useful when you were lower level."

"Maybe when we were level two. We're levels five and six now. Elsa's almost level seven. I don't even know how that worked out!"

"Because there were a few sessions you didn't play, Micah."

"I want a new magic item. I want to actually be useful."

"Micah, you are useful," Elsa interrupted. "You're our healer, and you're the only one that can get us back on our feet after we fall. You just need to learn to not rush into things head on."

"Yeah, that's my job," Kristoff joked.

"I said I was sorry!" Micah exclaimed angrily.

"Guys, it's just a game," Anna finally said. "Micah, you messed up and Elsa got a bad ass staff out of the deal, so just deal with it and move on. This is supposed to be fun, but right now you're making it not so fun. You're taking it way too personally and way too seriously. Besides, nobody is forcing you to play. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, it was you that suggested that we all start playing to begin with. So stop acting like such a brat and just enjoy the game for what it is."

"I don't need this. I'm going home."

As he got up to leave, Elsa sprang up after him and chased him down the hall, grabbing him by the arm and was pleading with her eyes for him to stay.

"Micah, please don't do this," she begged. "It's just a game. We don't have to play anymore tonight, okay? We can take a break and just go watch a movie or something. But please stay. For me."

He glanced at the front door before returning his gaze to her and sighed. "Alright. I'm sorry, I feel like I constantly get ragged on by everyone and it makes it not fun for me. I know I don't always make the best decisions, but still. I'm not as imaginative as you guys are, or as clever. So when Rose or you throw this stuff at us, I get frustrated because I don't know how to handle it."

"Micah, it's just a game. It's fine. Maybe we give you too hard of a time. I will tone it down a bunch, okay? I'll talk to the others and make sure they're on board. But it's not going to be avoidable all the time. Sometimes you just have to take your medicine. But please, don't go home. I want you here."

"Okay, I'll stay. But only because you begged," he said with a grin.

"Thank you!"

She pulled him into a nice, tight hug before giving him a peck on the cheek. He blushed, but it was thankfully dark enough that she wouldn't have noticed. As they headed back to the dining room to help the others clean up after the game, he thought to himself just how lucky he was to have her in his life. He smiled to himself, and thought about just what would happen if he were to come clean to her. He wasn't sure when that would be, but he was finally starting to build up the courage to confess his love to her. He just hoped it wasn't too late.


	22. Chapter 22 - A Time to Celebrate

**Chapter 22**

 _A Time to Celebrate_

"Elsa, sweetie, you have something in the mail!" her mother shouted up the stairs.

She wasn't sure which was louder, the squeal of delight escaping Elsa's throat, her running down the hall and nearly crashing into the wall, or Ellie chasing after her and barking excitedly. It was rather amusing to watch, although Elsa nearly broke one of the picture frames on the wall. Wearing socks on a hardwood floor, then proceeding to sprint down the hallway, was simply a recipe for disaster.

As soon as Elsa recovered, she zipped down the stairs and ripped the letter out of her mother's hand and tore into it. Her hands were shaking with excitement and anxiety, and she pulled the letter out with reckless abandon. Once she had it open, her eyes were scanning the paper as fast as they could, and then she had that telling smirk on her face that said she got what she wanted.

"I got a 1530!" she shrieked. Throwing her arms around her mother's neck, she nearly choked the woman with a deathly tight grip.

"That's great, sweet pea!" Melissa said as she fought herself free. "You should see if your friends got theirs yet."

"I am right now! Yay!"

Elsa bolted back up the stairs and ran to her room as fast as her legs would carry her, nearly crashing into the wall at the end of the hall. Grabbing up her phone, she immediately dialed Micah's number and impatiently waited for him to answer.

 _"Hey Els,"_ he said the moment he answered.

"Micah, did you check your mail yet?"

 _"Not yet. It doesn't come for another hour usually. Why?"_

"We got our test scores back!"

 _"We did? Great! What did you get?"_

"1530! I'm so excited!" She was practically hopping up and down.

 _"That's awesome! That's out of what? 1600?"_

"Yeah. Oh, this is great! You have to tell me what you get as soon as yours comes. Promise me!"

 _"I will, I swear. I won't even open it until I'm on the phone with you. But don't expect anything great."_

"Micah, quit being so negative. You did fine. I can guarantee that. I'm the one that tutored you, remember?"

 _"So I guess this means you're going off to UW?"_

"That's my goal. If they'll accept me. I can't see why they wouldn't though. I'm well above the enrollment requirements. All you need to do is score about a 1340 or so and you can go too!"

 _"What makes you think that will happen?"_

"Because, your GPA was fine, and they'll overlook a slightly lower GPA if you score well enough on the SATs. I know what you know, and there is no way you scored low."

 _"But what if I don't want to go to UW?"_

"Why wouldn't you?"

 _"I dunno. I mean, I still haven't even decided what I want to do for a degree."_

"You have a full year to think about it. Besides, I thought you were interested in getting a programming degree."

 _"Well, I sort of am. I dunno though. I'm not that good at it really. There's lots of advanced stuff that I don't know how to do."_

"That's why they have schools, dork. Plus, you got an A- in your programming class this year. That's fantastic!"

 _"Yeah, I guess you're right. What about you, are you still set on getting your psychology major and all that?"_

"Yeah. I'm still shooting for getting my doctorate so I can open my own practice, or at the very least join one that is already established. I also thought about maybe going into child protection services and working as a therapist for the kids taken from their parents. I mean, there's lots of opportunities for me once I get done with school. Same goes for you, as long as you get your butt in gear and do something about it. I still think you should go for your programming degrees. I mean, you program in what? JavaScript?"

 _"Yeah, primarily. We were learning some C++ as well, but that wasn't until the second semester. I kind of wish we got more time with it, because we had JavaScript all last year too."_

"I would learn whatever I can if I were you, that way you can have an edge on others. The tech industry is pretty competitive from what I understand, and I'm not at all surprised."

 _"True. But I really want to get good with one or two languages first before I learn any others. I don't want to overwhelm myself, which I've done plenty enough as it is."_

"Look, I want you to know that, no matter what your test score is, I'm very proud of you. You've done a great job sticking with all of this, and you picked everything up that I taught you. So no matter what, I'm proud of you and the effort you put into everything."

 _"Thanks. That means a whole hell of a lot to me, especially coming from you. I don't think I could have done any of this without your help."_

"Maybe. But you don't have that to worry about. I've been here every step of the way. I will make sure you never fall behind or fail."

 _"No offense, but there's nothing you can really do to help me with my programming work. You don't know the first thing about either language."_

"No, but in case you haven't noticed by now, I'm a fast learner. I mean, I wasn't even taking German and I helped you with that the whole time."

 _"Okay, good point. Maybe you can help me. But still, that's if we even end up going to the same school. Besides, why would you want to get stuck with me for another four years?"_

"Micah, I swear to God I am going to hit you when I see you next."

 _"Please don't. It hurts when you punch me."_

"Then don't say shit like that and piss me off. I hate it when you do that."

 _"I meant it as a joke. Relax."_

"No, I will not relax. I know you, and there was a hint of sincerity behind it. I _want_ you to go with me to UW. It's a great school, they have a lot of great programs, and then you'll be close by and I won't have to feel so alone."

 _"Geez, Els, I dunno what to say. I mean, I didn't know you felt that way about it."_

"Of course I do. We have been best friends forever, remember? We do everything together. I've always just imagined that we'd go off to college together too."

 _"Well, that's real sweet and all, but I'm afraid I'd just be holding you back."_

"Not going to happen. Ever. You'd more likely be holding me back if you didn't go. I don't want to go without you."

 _"Alright, well, let me think about it. I need to decide on what I'm gonna do anyway. I'm gonna have to wait to see what my test score looks like though. Can't really make any decisions without that."_

"I know. And if you can't get into UW, there's always WSU. We can go there instead if needed."

 _"Elsa, I don't want you handicapping your education because of me. I don't want to do that to you."_

"I wouldn't be. WSU offers a great program as well. They're just a lot more lax as to who can get in. They have a pretty high acceptance rate."

 _"I know that isn't what you want though. Your heart has been set on UW for a long time. Honestly though, with your GPA and SAT score, you can get into places like Harvard. Why the hell are you sticking around this place?"_

"Well for starters, I don't have the kind of connections or the money to get into Harvard. Second, I don't want to go there anyway. I'm perfectly happy going to UW, or WSU if I have to."

 _"But you don't have to. Don't do this because of me. Please."_

"You aren't going to change my mind, so give it up."

 _"If you say so. I think you're making a big mistake."_

"No, leaving you behind would be a big mistake."

 _"Okay. Look, I'm gonna go hop in the shower before the mail comes. Pray that my score is decent."_

"I don't pray. I don't need to."

 _"Whatever. Talk to you in a bit."_

As soon as she hung up the phone, she was right back on it calling up Rose and Kristoff. They had gotten their letters, and both scored above 1300. Elsa was happy for them, if not a little loud about it as well. She decided that they'd all have to get together and celebrate, at least after Micah's mail arrived. That was sort of the deciding factor in how they would handle it.

She knew that he doubted himself a lot, but she couldn't understand why. He wasn't always this way. It was an attitude that he had developed more recently, since they got into high school. There didn't seem to be any reason for it, and no matter how hard she tried to reinforce in him the fact that he was a very smart and capable person, he fought against it every step of the way. He basically refused to believe or accept that he was smart in any capacity. It only got worse after he got together with Amber. The girl was a very negative influence in his life, and he was still dealing with the aftermath of that.

While waiting for Micah to call her back, Elsa decided to load up her music playlist on her laptop and start listening to some tunes. The first one that popped up was one that she wasn't expecting. It was 'Glycerine' by Bush. For whatever reason, the song always made her sad, and reminded her of him. For her, it was their love song. Unfortunately, she didn't want to listen to it and start crying, so she had to change it as fast as she could. So, she had to scroll through her songs list in order to find something a little less depressing. She ended up settling on 'Creeping Death' by Metallica, back from their heavy metal days. It was much more energetic, and didn't make her feel like curling up into a ball and weep.

During this time, she chose to clean her room, which was already pretty clean to begin with. More than anything, she was just busying herself with menial tasks until Micah decided to call. She did her best to not watch the clock, but she was getting impatient. So, she decided to break out her diary and write in it about everything that had happened recently, which wasn't much. School would be over in about a week, and very little had really happened. She had made sure to get a yearbook and have people at school sign it. Mostly people she was familiar with in class, since she didn't really have any other friends outside of the group. But besides that, there really wasn't much to write about.

When she did finally look at the clock, she saw that she had managed to kill roughly thirty minutes. That was it. That's when she decided to take Ellie for a walk around the block, or even down to the park. It was a good seven to eight minute walk from her house if they went at a decent pace, and she had started getting slightly more exercise ever since she got her dog. It felt good to be out of the house more, even if it was only for short bursts at a time.

It also forced her to be more social with other people, especially those with dogs as well. Everyone was always impressed with how calm and friendly Ellie was, and how she didn't growl or fight with other dogs, even when they acted aggressive towards her. The neighborhood kids were always asking if they could pet her, and Elsa had gotten used to it. She was pretty sure that Ellie liked the attention she got. Being a very inquisitive dog, she always looked at newcomers with her head slightly tilted to one side. Elsa thought it was adorable, and always gave her a good scratch behind her floppy ears.

It wasn't until after they were at the park for awhile throwing a frisbee that Micah finally got around to calling her back. When she answered, Elsa could hear the concern in his voice.

 _"Hey, so, uh, it's here."_

"Are you ready to open it?" she asked nervously.

 _"Not really. I think I might put it off for a bit-"_

"Micah, don't you dare do this to me! I have been waiting nearly two hours for you to call me! So suck it up and open that damned letter!"

 _"Jesus Christ, okay! No need to bite my head off."_

"I'll do worse than that if you don't hurry up and open it."

 _"Okay, just hold on. Give me like five seconds to tear this bitch open."_

She could hear the sound of paper tearing over the phone, then him struggling to get the letter out of the envelope. It was stressful just listening to it.

 _"Okay, got it. Um, let's see..."_

"Are you doing this on purpose? Because I'm going to have a heart attack if you don't hurry up."

 _"Um, Els, I don't know how to tell you this, but..."_

"God damn it Micah. What does it say?"

 _"You're not gonna like it."_

"Oh God. Is it that low? I mean, how is that even possible?"

 _"I'm just messing with you. I got a 1360."_

It took a moment to register, but as soon as it did Elsa screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Yes! Oh my god, Micah! You did it! Yes!"

 _"Okay, Els, that's really loud in my ear."_

"I don't care! Oh my god! I am so happy right now you have no idea!"

 _"Well, good. I still don't know what this means."_

"It means we're going to college together!"

 _"Els, I told you that I wasn't sure what I was gonna do. I mean, most programmers don't even have a college degree. They're self-taught."_

"Micah Alexander Aldrin, you are going to college with me if I have to drag your dead corpse with me. And that's exactly what you'll be if you even think of making me go off to UW by myself."

 _"Elsa, you're getting kind of scary."_

"You have never seen me angry or scary before, Micah. Do not change that."

 _"Yeah, I don't think I want to see you angry. Or scary, for that matter."_

"Good answer."

 _"So what do we do now? We have our test scores back, and they're apparently good, which means we won't have to retake the test next year. But what do we do from here?"_

"Well, Rose is going to the Art Institute of Seattle, Kristoff still isn't sure what he's going to do, and we're going to UW. We apply so we can see what they say. Do you have your letter of recommendation from the food bank you were volunteering at?"

 _"Yeah. I have it in a plastic sleeve so it doesn't get ruined, just like you told me."_

"Good. Keep it. When we apply we have to send in a copy of that with our application. I mean, you don't absolutely have to, but it's a very smart idea to do so. At least, that's what I've read online. Either way, I'm doing it just in case. You should too."

 _"Alright. Do you want to go out and celebrate?"_

"Of course I do. We need to coordinate with Kristoff and Rose, but yeah we're doing something. This is too big of a deal to not celebrate."

 _"Cool. Let me know what you guys come up with. I'm up for whatever."_

"Okay. That means it'll be me, Anna and Rose that figure this out, because Kristoff is the same way. You guys never give us any input."

 _"It's because we like doing just about whatever you guys do. As long as all five us are together, we don't care."_

"Okay. Well, I'm thinking Olive Garden. Something nice and civil for a change. Think about it and let me know, alright? I'm going to call Rose and find out what she wants. Kristoff will just have to deal with whatever we come up with."

 _"Alright. I'll talk to you in a bit."_

Elsa was ecstatic. Her lifelong best friend had scored well enough to get into the same college as her. She couldn't be happier or more proud. It took her a few minutes to get around to calling Rose, and she wasn't sure why. She guessed it was because she wanted to have just a few minutes to herself to be joyous and elated without having to share it with anyone. So, taking a few deep breaths, she managed to calm herself enough to operate her phone without shaking violently out of excitement. The next phone call wasn't nearly as important, but she still was bound and determined to celebrate with her friends.

00000

As the school year finished out with everyone in high spirits, Micah reflected back on what had really happened. The biggest highlight of the year was him finally freeing himself from the clutches of Amber's sordid morals. He had no idea why he stayed with her for so long. The girl had made him miserable for a long time, and yet he felt that he had to be with her in order to feel whole. But, the longer he stayed with her, the more his life spiraled towards self-destruction. His grades started slipping, he was losing his friends, and he came to hate himself. Now that she was out of his life, things were slowly piecing themselves back together. Unfortunately, the self-loathing and depression clung on tight.

His friends had noticed this change in him, but they didn't say much about it. They weren't aware of how deep the feelings ran, or how much he wanted them to go away. He didn't think he was as bad off as Elsa was; she had been through true hell. What he had been through was just mild misery in comparison. But it still felt horrible, regardless of the degree of pain received. It left an ache in his heart that he couldn't suppress. Emotions that should have stayed buried resurfaced on a constant basis, keeping him awake at night. He supposed that that was what Elsa had dealt with for years.

Micah considered seeking counseling to help him through all of this. She had been seeing Dr. Cohen for years, ever since she was little, and they had developed a close bond in that time. Elsa always spoke highly of the woman, which was nice to hear. When he thought about it, the woman knew more about Elsa than he did, and he considered himself an expert on the subject. Perhaps what he needed was to seek her help as well, especially if she was as good as his friend claimed she was.

That was when he ended up sitting in her office on the first Wednesday of summer break. It was roughly 10 am, and he was still in the process of registering everything going on around him. The waiting room was quiet, with the secretary at the front desk idly typing away on her keyboard. Micah figured she was looking at something on Facebook, since every now and then she'd stop and giggled to herself. That's what a lot of these older women did anymore. Not that she was old, of course. She had to be in her early thirties at the most.

After about twenty minutes of waiting, Dr. Cohen came out and called him back into her office. As he followed her in, he glanced around the room to sort of absorb everything. In one corner of the room was a tall lamp that was dimly lit with a couple potted ferns set at the base. In the opposite corner was a little water fountain, making the soothing sound of trickling water. Her desk was rather large and had a glass top, and the computer had some ambient music playing. It was low enough in volume so that it wasn't distracting. Then, at the center of the room sat a long white couch and two armchairs.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Micah," Dr. Cohen said as she gestured towards the couch. "Please, make yourself comfortable."

"Uh, thanks," he replied nervously as he chose a spot on the couch. It was soft, and he sank in a bit more than he had anticipated. But, it was comfortable.

"I've heard a lot about you from Elsa over the years," she said with a smile.

"I hope they were good things," he said nervously.

"They covered the entire spectrum, to be honest. But, I want to get to know you better. Are you thirsty? I can get you some tea."

"No, that's alright. I'm fine."

"Alright. So tell me, how are things between you and your friends?" Dr. Cohen asked.

"They're good. We hang out all the time and just do whatever together," Micah replied.

"That's good to hear. Are you excited for summer vacation?"

"I dunno," Micah said with a shrug. "I mean, I guess so. We have some stuff planned, but I don't know if we'll be able to do it all."

"What kind of things do you have planned?"

"Well, we were thinking about going back to Ocean Shores and camping out on the beach again. That's sort of a thing we've been doing. We were also thinking of taking a road trip up to Canada, but I doubt that will happen, mostly because Elsa and Anna are the only ones with a passport right now. Besides that, we just hang out as much as possible."

"That actually sounds like it could be a lot of fun if it happens."

"Yeah, that's what we were thinking too. None of us have ever been to Canada before, but we've heard a lot about it. Seems like the right thing to do would be to visit it at least once," Micah said.

"Well, I hope you get a chance to do that. It would be a great experience."

"Yeah, I hope so too. But like I said, I doubt it'll happen."

"So, how has school been? Have you had trouble with your studies or any other issues?" she asked.

"School has been alright I guess. Eleventh grade was pretty intense overall, but Elsa helped me through most of it so it wasn't a big issue. I doubt I would have been nearly as successful without her though."

"So Elsa has been a good influence on you?"

"Oh yeah, very much so. If it wasn't for her, I don't know where I'd be right now."

"She told me you had a girlfriend late into ninth grade. What can you tell me about that?"

"Oh, Amber? Yeah, that's a touchy subject. I don't know if I want to talk about her just yet. It was not a good experience."

"And why is that?"

"Like I said, I don't know if I really want to get into it right now. I've been trying hard to forget about her."

"Opening up about it and getting it off your chest could be very beneficial to you emotionally," Dr. Cohen said encouragingly.

"Yeah, I suppose. Alright, what the hell. What do you want to know?"

"I'd like for you to tell me how you two met."

"Oh. We met in our ninth grade world history class. We sat next to each other, and she just sort of started talking to me one day. After about a week or so, she asked me if I wanted to hang out after school. I said sure, and while we were walking to her house she told me that she liked me. I didn't know what I felt, but I told her I liked her as well. Then after an awkward silence, I sort of just asked her out."

"And how was the relationship overall?"

"Well, at first it was pretty good. I mean, I'd never had a girlfriend before that point, so I didn't really have any way to judge if things were going well or not. But after a while things just sort of turned sour. I slowly started to realize that all our relationship was about was making out either at my house or hers. We didn't really do anything other than that. We had nothing in common, and there was no real substance to what we had. Plus I didn't like how she treated me. She would get angry at me over nothing, she would call me names, tell me how stupid I am... things like that. Then earlier this year, things came to a head when I caught her cheating on me. I had been warned by Elsa and the others, and I called them liars because I didn't want to believe them. They all said they had caught her in the halls at school kissing other guys. I should have seen the signs, but I was too blind. It makes me regret having sex with her."

"You were sexually active with her? For how long?"

"About a year and a half. It wasn't a constant thing though."

"I see. So when you caught her cheating on you, what did you do?"

"I had gone over to her place after the New Years Eve party we went to at Rose's house, and had planned on talking to her with the possibility of ending things. I really didn't want to break up with her as badly as I made it sound, but that was supposed to be the plan. When some other guy answered the door, I knew right away what was going on. I had caught her red handed, and when she tried to tell me it was a mistake and that she wanted to work things out, I got pissed and walked away."

"And how do you feel now?"

"I dunno. I kind of hate myself," he admitted. "I feel like a total loser because of how things ended up. I wonder if I could have prevented it from happening. The whole thing makes me feel worthless, and Amber did her best to reinforce that sentiment in me. No matter how hard I try, I can't get these thoughts out of my head. I can barely sleep at night. I don't have nightmares, mostly because I have to actually be able to sleep to have them. I'm tired and depressed all the time. I'm a complete mess."

"How have your friends reacted to all of this?"

"They've tried to be supportive, but they don't really know all that much about what's going on. I haven't even told Elsa that much, and I tell her everything. It just doesn't feel like it's something I need to concern her with. She already worries about me enough as it is."

"Do you think they'd treat you differently if they knew the truth?"

"I have no idea. I doubt it. They're all good people. They care. Just sometimes they get too deep into my business that it's kind of difficult to deal with."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Kristoff and Rose have been pushing me for years to ask Elsa out. They seem to think that we'd make the perfect couple or something. I keep telling them that there's no way it will ever happen because Elsa doesn't feel that way about me, but they persist with it anyway. Sometimes I just need a break from them."

"Have you ever considered doing as they suggest?"

"I mean, yeah, a lot. I would love to be able to come out and just tell Elsa how I feel. But I can't. It would just end up pushing her away and make things awkward between us. I don't want to do that. I'm happy with how things are."

"So you have feelings for Elsa? Are they strong feelings?"

"Oh yeah. She's the best thing to ever happen to me. Without her friendship, I'd be lost and miserable. We've been so close our entire lives, and she's the most important thing in the world to me. I love her a lot, more than she'll ever know. I would love it if we could be together in a relationship, because I've dreamt of having a future together with her. But that's all it is; a dream. I have to constantly remind myself that it will never happen."

"How are you so sure of that?"

"Because, I know Elsa. There is no way she could possibly feel anything even remotely romantic towards me. That sort of thing doesn't happen. She didn't even love Jeremy, and she dated him for a year. She said she never had any feelings for the guy the entire time they were together. So I doubt she could feel anything for me either."

"You won't know unless you try."

"Now you're starting to sound like my friends."

Dr. Cohen gave him a knowing smile, but chose to change the subject. "So, as far as your feelings of self-loathing and depression, I want you to try something that I have had Elsa doing for years now. They're daily affirmations. Every morning, I want you to get up and go to the bathroom or wherever you have a mirror, and tell yourself how good of a person you really are. That you are a great person, and that you deserve to be loved just like everyone else. That there is nothing wrong with you. Most importantly, I want you to tell yourself that you will be happy no matter what life throws at you.

"Also, I want you to come up with a list of things that you believe are positives about yourself. Name as many good qualities that you can possibly come up with. It doesn't have to be done all at once, just as things come to you. Then I want you to bring that list with you to our next session. Can you do that?"

"I can try, yeah."

"Good. This will be the first step. I don't believe you are as damaged as you think you are. I think you are simply in a slump and dealing with the aftermath of a toxic relationship. But I will do my best to help you overcome these feelings of doubt that you have about yourself. It has been working for Elsa for a while now, and I have definitely seen a change in her. Her depression is in remission, and she feels better about herself and about life. But you know the things she has gone through, so you know what has been done to her. Just know that if she can come back from all that and become the strong young woman that she is now, then you can do the same."

"Okay. I trust you. You've done so much for Elsa, so I can only imagine that it will work for me."

"I promise you, it will help. It has worked for a lot of people. But unfortunately our time is up for now. Just remember to bring that list with you to our next session. I want to see you again next week. I think that would be best."

"Sure. Next week."

As Micah got up to leave, he had this strange sensation wash over him. He didn't know what it was, but it felt good. There was a good chance that this was the same thing Elsa had told him that she felt when she visited Dr. Cohen. Whatever it was, it lifted his spirits enough that he walked out of the office in a great mood.


	23. Chapter 23 - Summer Storm

**A/N: Well, today I have a special treat for you guys, but I'm not going to spoil it for you. Just know that I think you'll like it. Also, I need to warn you guys of some very mild domestic violence. But that's the extent of what I can tell you guys. Let me know in the reviews what you guys think of this. Read on and enjoy.**

 **Chapter 23**

 _Summer Storm_

Summer. It was Rose's favorite time of year. It meant no school for three months, more time to spend drawing or hanging out with friends, and barbecues. She loved flame grilled burgers with gooey cheese on a toasted sesame seed bun, potato salad, baked beans, and watermelon. All the summer greatest hits. It also didn't hurt that it was lovely bikini weather, which meant she could get away with wearing one without seeming weird, and without having to wear super hot clothing all the time.

She spent the majority of her time drawing and watching anime when she wasn't with her friends. Interestingly enough, she didn't draw just anime characters. Her portfolio had all manner of fantasy and science fiction artwork as well. Rose prided herself on the ability to draw a wide array of styles, and she made sure to practice as much as physically possible. That is, when she wasn't being distracted by some video game that her friends were begging her to join them in.

The drawing she was currently working on was a seven-headed hydra that was battling some warrior on horseback. It was one she had been working on for a few days, and the progress was rather slow. She was at the stage of adding the shading to the finer details, and coloring in the scales on the monster. It was coming along rather nicely she thought, and might become her new favorite picture. Her other work included some cartoon characters she really liked, but most of her stuff was original art.

The weather outside wasn't typical summer weather. It was one of the rare summer storms, complete with thunder and lightning. It did that every time the weather was hot when it rained. At the moment, it wasn't raining hard. Mostly just a light sprinkling. But the forecast said that there would actually be heavy showers later in the evening. Rose enjoyed watching the light show, and liked the feeling of the static in the air that caused her hair to stand on end. It was an enjoyable sensation.

It was nearly 1 pm when she got a text message from Elsa telling her to get online. At first, she ignored it. She didn't particularly feel like getting on the computer. She was almost done coloring in the hydra, and was about to start working on the warrior's armor. But, it was Elsa, and she was practically her best friend. In fact, Rose considered her to be her best friend.

Putting her sketch book and colored pencils away, Rose extracted herself from her bed and meandered over to her laptop. As soon as it was powered up she was on Skype. Interestingly, Elsa was not. But Kristoff was. So she chose to message him to see what the deal was.

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Hey Kristoff, any idea what Elsa wanted?_

 _Dominator: You got her text too, huh? No, no idea._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Where's Micah?_

 _Dominator: No clue. Haven't heard from him since yesterday afternoon. He wasn't online last night for our game of Starcraft either._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Have you tried calling or texting him?_

 _Dominator: Yeah, tried both. No answer though._

 _Frosty Soul: Sorry I'm late, guys. Had to clean up a mess Ellie made._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: There you are. And I thought your dog didn't do that kind of stuff._

 _Frosty Soul: It was sort of my fault. She was downstairs with Anna and when I called her upstairs, she came running but slid into one of the potted plants my mom has. You know that miniature palm tree she keeps by the stairs? It was that. It got knocked down the stairs and the pot split in half. There was dirt everywhere. So right now, we have a little tree with no pot to put it in._

 _Dominator: Oh cool. Plant it in the backyard?_

 _Frosty Soul: Can't. The weather here would kill it. That's why it's an indoor plant._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Okay, so what was the reason for me putting my art stuff away and hopping on here?_

 _Frosty Soul: Right. Okay, I don't want you guys to freak out or anything, but I got a strange phone call this morning. From Jeremy._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: What._

 _Dominator: What the hell did he want?_

 _Frosty Soul: He, um, wanted to apologize for how he acted before, and wanted to know if I'd be willing to meet up with him so we could talk._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Please, for the love of God, tell me you didn't agree to that._

 _Frosty Soul: I kind of did._

 _Dominator: Why the hell did you go and do that!?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Girl, I have never called you stupid before. But you are god damn stupid. I'm coming over there and bitch slapping the hell out of you. Don't go anywhere, I'll be over in fifteen minutes._

 _Frosty Soul: Rose, don't. It's fine. I'll be fine. He's not picking me up. We're meeting at the mall, out in public, where he can't do anything._

 _Dominator: In case you don't remember the last time, the dude threw a god damn chair at you and almost knocked you out. That was in front of a lot of people. I don't think the guy cares._

 _Frosty Soul: I know. But I want to know what he has to say. I'm not going anywhere with him, and I'm certainly not getting back together with him. That I can promise will never happen._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: And what if he just wants to have a quickie for old times sake?_

 _Frosty Soul: I don't even know what that means._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Of course you don't, you poor, naive fool._

 _Dominator: It means sex, Elsa. What if he wants to have sex with you?_

 _Frosty Soul: Oh, God no! He was terrible at it before, and I can promise you he hasn't improved. Besides, even if he is somehow a sex god now, I wouldn't touch him. That will never happen again. I am not getting back together with him, I am not going off anywhere with him, and I am certainly not sleeping with him. I think it'll be fine._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: I don't think this is a good idea at all. I don't want to hear you suddenly becoming buddies again. The guy beat the hell out of you, Elsa. I'm surprised he didn't rape you either._

 _Frosty Soul: Yeah, about that..._

 _Dominator: I'm going to kill him._

 _Frosty Soul: It only happened once. It was the last time we had sex. Afterwards I hurt like hell and my stomach was in serious pain. I bled for over a day. It's part of the reason I finally decided to leave him._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Why the hell haven't you told anybody yet!?_

 _Frosty Soul: Because I just wanted to forget._

 _Dominator: Does your therapist know?_

 _Frosty Soul: Yes. I told her a couple weeks ago. But not even Micah knows, and I don't want him to ever find out. It would devastate him. Also, do not tell him about me seeing Jeremy. Please. He doesn't need to know._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: I am not making that promise, Elsa. He has every right to know that his best friend is making a huge mistake. Especially since it's the woman he loves._

 _Frosty Soul: Please, don't bring that up. It's painful enough to think about. It's never going to happen, so let's just bury it._

 _Dominator: I'm with Rose on this. This is a ginormous mistake. Jeremy doesn't deserve to be in your presence. What is the point of even meeting with him?_

 _Frosty Soul: Closure more than anything. But I don't want you guys worrying. I'll be fine. I'm not as timid as I once was. He's not going to scare me again. Anyway, I gotta go. We're meeting in thirty minutes. I'll let you know what happens._

Before they could respond, Elsa logged off. Rose was fuming, and she was pretty sure Kristoff was too. The son of a bitch had raped her, and she hadn't told anyone. The worst part was she simply shrugged it off. She didn't know what her friend was thinking, and she desperately wanted to strangle her. She was also tempted to tell Micah everything, but since nobody could get a hold of him, that would have to wait.

 _Mikasa Ackerman: What do we do now, Kris? Our friend is making the biggest mistake of her life by going and seeing that scumbag. Is there any way we can stop her?_

 _Dominator: Unfortunately, no. Elsa is almost eighteen. As much as it pains me to say it, she can make whatever decisions she wants and not answer to anyone. Plus, she isn't obligated to listen to reason._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: I hope to God she doesn't do anything even more stupid. I don't think I have the strength to save her ass. Should we go to the mall and keep an eye on her?_

 _Dominator: How do you propose we do that without getting caught? She'd see us in a heartbeat._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Okay, so it's not a very feasible plan. Damn it, I don't like this._

 _Dominator: I don't either. But maybe we should have some faith in her. I mean, she's smart, even if she makes incredibly stupid decisions. Hopefully she'll be smart about this._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: I certainly hope so. I don't think my heart can take much more._

00000

It was almost 2 pm when Elsa arrived at the food court of the mall. She knew she had gotten there before him, and that he'd be casually late like usual. Even though he was a stickler for punctuality when it came to making sure she was ready to go somewhere, he was never on time if something didn't matter to him. So, while she waited, she went and grabbed her favorite soft drink at Auntie Anne's.

At about 2:10 pm he finally strolled in, smile on his face and some pep to his step. He was still a complete douchebag, Elsa thought, and as arrogant as ever. When he spotted her, he waved at her like everything was fine between them, and she just hid her face in her hand and shook her head. She knew he wouldn't even notice, so she didn't have to worry about walking on eggshells.

"Hey beautiful," he said as he took a seat at the table with her. "How are you?"

"Jeremy, don't call me that," Elsa warned him. "And I'd be fine if I knew why the hell you decided to call and meet with me. I recall specifically telling you to stay the hell out of my life. So there better be a damn good reason for this, because my patience with you is very short and I could be at home doing better things than wasting time with you."

"Okay, relax. I'm here on peaceful terms."

"I'm not. So out with it."

"Right," he said, frowning. "So, I just wanted to say that I did a lot of thinking, and I wanted to apologize for my behavior. I have come to realize that I might have some slight anger issues-"

"Might have slight anger issues? Jeremy, you beat the hell out of me on a regular basis then raped me. You are so god damn lucky that I didn't go to the authorities, because right now you would be behind bars and a registered sex offender. I regret my decision every second of every day. So do _not_ try minimizing the damage that you did."

"Okay, I deserve that. But I still want to say I'm sorry."

"You're sorry? You're _sorry_!? Do you have any god damn idea what I've been through!? Do you!? You set my therapy back by _years_ , Jeremy. I'm just now getting back to a place where I can feel comfortable in my own skin and learn how to be happy. So you better try a little harder than you're sorry."

"Look, I don't know what you want from me. I'm here trying to be as civil as I can and make amends with you."

"You're putting zero effort into it, just like you did with our relationship. Now, if you're done, I'd really like to go home and spend time with the friends that you tried to forbid me from ever seeing."

"Wait. Please. There has to be some way I can make things up to you."

"Jeremy, the only thing you can possibly do at this point to make things up to me is by dropping dead. You beat me and raped me. What part of that don't you get? You constantly lied to me, belittled me, and made me feel worthless. You tried to brainwash me, and it almost worked. You preyed on me when I was completely vulnerable. You are the definition of scumbag, and I would much rather you never existed. There is nothing you can do that will ever make me forgive you for what you did. Now then, I'm going to get up and walk away. Do not follow me. Do not touch me. If you so much as try to say another word to me I will call the police and report you for harassing me. Stay out of my life and go to hell."

As she stood up to leave, Jeremy quickly reached over the table and grabbed her by the wrist, startling her. Then he yanked on her arm hard and forced her back down into the chair.

"Do not walk away from me!"

"Go to hell you son of a bitch!"

"What have I told you about talking to me like that!"

Without warning, he reached over and slapped her straight across the face as hard as he could, causing her to yelp in pain. Quickly she threw her arms up in self defense, and he tried to hit her again. Then she heard yelling, and several people ran over and tried to restrain him before he could hit her any more. She was starting to cry, and rubbed her cheek in pain.

"Miss, are you alright?" one of the bystanders asked her.

She didn't respond right away as she was focused too much on not letting Jeremy hit her again. There wasn't much to worry about though, as he was down on the ground being restrained by about three other people. Then she looked around, and saw that there were a lot of people standing around watching. She wasn't sure how she felt about that.

It didn't take long for mall security to arrive and take over. Luckily they were real cops, and after hearing the accounts of several of the people standing around, they put Jeremy in handcuffs and one of them escorted him out of the area. When the other officer checked on Elsa, she was still in tears but was calmed down some. There was a large red mark on the side of her face, and when he asked her if she wanted to press charges she finally had the courage to tell him yes.

What Jeremy had done was the last straw on her sanity. Elsa could feel herself slowly spiraling into a state of depression again, but she was doing her best to hold everything together until she got home. The officer offered to walk her out to her car, which she happily accepted. On their way out, he reassured her that Jeremy wouldn't be bothering her anymore. If she wanted to, she could file for a restraining order which would guarantee that he'd go to jail if he ever came near her again. After having to put up with everything she had endured since she met him, she was more than eager to do just that.

The drive home was miserable. The side of her head hurt and she felt utterly ashamed. For whatever reason, she was beating herself up over the whole thing and she couldn't stop. All of the hateful things she felt about herself over the years came bubbling up to the surface. Though she tried all the techniques that Dr. Cohen had taught her over the years, she couldn't stop the thoughts from invading her mind.

When she got home, she went straight to her room and closed the door. Then, as if all the energy had been sapped from her, she changed into some pajamas and crawled into bed. She didn't feel like getting back online and telling her friends about what had happened. That could wait, if she even decided to tell them at all. Instead, she curled up into a ball and wept until she was too tired to stay awake. Before she passed out, the one thought on her mind was how much she wished Micah was there with her that moment.

00000

It was roughly 3 pm by the time Micah decided to crawl out of bed. He had been awake for hours, but didn't particularly feel like getting up. There was a lot on his mind, and he couldn't really make heads or tails of any of it. But it kept him up most of the night, and it was what woke him up so suddenly. It had been happening nearly every day for awhile now. He just wished he knew how to put a stop to it.

After slowly getting dressed and ransacking the kitchen for something to eat, he decided to sit down and watch something on TV. There wasn't really anything in particular that he wanted to watch, just something pointless that he could mindlessly focus on for a bit to numb himself. The sounds coming out of the speakers sounded garbled and distant, and he wasn't entirely sure if there was something wrong with the TV or with his head. There was a swirling feeling going on inside his skull, and it was driving him mad. If only he could make it stop.

The bowl of cereal he had poured himself was tasteless, and the slice of buttered toast he made was like cardboard in his mouth. Nothing was the way it was supposed to be, and every time he tried to make sense out of it, he would lose track of what he was thinking and simply stare at the wall. He couldn't feel anything, and it was starting to scare him.

The weather outside was starting to get worse, which was weird for this time of year. The thunder was getting louder and more frequent, and the rain had started falling a little harder. The summer normally didn't see much rain, but thunderstorms weren't unheard of. It usually left an interesting scent in the air, and it was nearly impossible to describe. Mixed with the rain, it smelled very... fresh. Like the air had been cleaned of its impurities, at least for a short time. Micah didn't mind that kind of weather, really. The day after a good rain was always nice.

At some point, he didn't know when, Micah checked his phone to see if anyone cared enough to message him. Oddly, to his surprise, there were twelve messages and four missed calls. Most were Kristoff and Rose trying to get a hold of him so they could play a game together. But there was one message from Elsa that bothered him.

 _Micah, I'm so sorry. I don't know what I was thinking, and I made a huge mistake. I will tell you later what it was, but please know that I will never do it again. Please forgive me._

Micah had to blink several times to make sure he was reading it right. After staring at it for about a minute, he decided it didn't make any damn sense. What she could have possibly done that was a huge mistake was a mystery to him. As far as he knew, she hadn't done anything to him. While it made him curious, he set his phone back down and sat in the armchair by the front window. Turning the TV off with the remote, he leaned back into the chair and just listened to the sound of the rain falling. It was soothing, but it didn't help his mood any. He still felt incredibly numb.

He sat there for nearly an hour just listening to the rain pelting the roof and ground outside. There was a muddy pool of water in the corner of the front yard where the ground dipped down just a little too much. The cars driving by made that slick hissing sound with their tires on the wet asphalt, kicking up the water and spraying it everywhere as they passed. Then he heard the neighbor next door yelling at her husband about something. It kind of killed the mood that the rain had tried so hard to set.

Standing up angrily, he paced back and forth across the living room. It was really getting to him. His thoughts felt like they were boring a hole through his skull, and it was giving him a serious headache. What he needed was some aspirin or ibuprofen. So, he decided to rummage through the medicine cabinet in the bathroom for something, anything, that would help. After emptying the shelves and making a mess, he found a bottle of Advil that was nearly empty. But it was enough.

He emptied the bottle's contents into his and went to pour himself a glass of water. As soon as he managed to suck the pills down, he grabbed his phone and headed back to his bedroom. It was a tough decision between hopping online to see if his friends were around or trying to get some more sleep. He ended up choosing the former, knowing full well that he wouldn't be able to sleep no matter how hard he tried.

Flipping his laptop open, he waited for everything to load, which seemed to be taking an eternity. It was probably because he wasn't feeling all that good. Probably. But it did eventually load up, and he was able to hop onto Skype just in time to be bombarded by messages from his friends.

 _Dominator: There you are!_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Where the hell have you been!?_

 _Feisty Firecrotch: Hi Micah!_

He had to blink a few times just to make sure he had read the name properly. He had.

 _Raging Rajang: Anna?_

 _Feisty Firecrotch: Yep! Rose and Kristoff finally talked me into getting a Skype account._

 _Dominator: It took way too long for her to do it too._

 _Feisty Firecrotch: Shut it, Kris._

 _Raging Rajang: Where did you come up with that name?_

 _Feisty Firecrotch: Rose helped._

 _Raging Rajang: Of course she did._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Fitting, isn't it?_

 _Raging Rajang: Sure._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: So where the hell have you been for the last eighteen hours?_

 _Raging Rajang: Trying to sleep._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: For that long? That's not healthy._

 _Dominator: Yeah man, that isn't good._

 _Raging Rajang: Yeah, well, I wasn't able to get any sleep so don't worry._

 _Feisty Firecrotch: Have you slept at all?_

 _Raging Rajang: I got about forty-five minutes altogether._

 _Dominator: That's not good either. Have you tried taking anything for it? Like melatonin or something?_

 _Raging Rajang: No, we don't have anything like that._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: You can try drinking warm milk._

 _Raging Rajang: Ew no._

 _Feisty Firecrotch: What do you think helps put babies to sleep when they breastfeed?_

 _Raging Rajang: I don't need to think about that._

 _Feisty Firecrotch: Typical guy. Why does that gross you out?_

 _Raging Rajang: I didn't say it grosses me out. I just don't need to think about it, that's all. Besides, someday I'm gonna have kids and odds are they'll be breastfed. But until then, I don't need to fill my mind with the images._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Basically, he's saying it turns him on._

 _Feisty Firecrotch: The breastfeeding or the breast part?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Both._

 _Raging Rajang: I hate you guys so much right now._

 _Dominator: Now now girls, let's leave him alone. We don't want to tease the only one that has had any actual experience with the opposite sex. It might offend his masculinity._

 _Raging Rajang: I didn't log on for this._

 _Feisty Firecrotch: We're just messing with you, Micah. Relax._

 _Raging Rajang: I'm sick of always getting put down or insulted somehow. Between you guys and Amber and her friends, I've had enough._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Micah, we are not Amber. We're just joking with you. We wouldn't do that with you if we weren't friends. Please, just relax and calm down._

 _Raging Rajang: Fine. Where is Elsa?_

 _Feisty Firecrotch: In her room sleeping._

 _Raging Rajang: Why is she asleep at 4:30 pm?_

 _Feisty Firecrotch: No idea. The door is closed and the blinds are shut. It's pitch black in there. I tried to wake her up a little bit ago, but she told me to get out and leave her alone. I think she's upset about something, but I have no idea what._

 _Dominator: Yeah, we haven't heard from her for a few hours now. No idea what's going on with her._

 _Raging Rajang: Maybe I should call her back. She called and texted me earlier around 2:45 pm. I was still in bed. My ringer was turned off, which is why I didn't answer. That and my head is pounding. Had to take some Advil to try and take the edge off._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Yeah, call her back. See how she's doing. Let us know what she says._

 _Raging Rajang: Yeah, okay. I can do that. I'll be back in a few._

Picking up his phone, he stared at it for a moment, reconsidering making the call. He didn't want to bother her if she was just tired and trying to sleep. But if something was wrong like her text message had made it sound, then he wanted to get to the bottom of it right away. Before he knew it, the phone was ringing.

 _"Hello?"_ Elsa asked in a very tired voice.

"Hey, are you alright?"

 _"I guess."_

"Do you want to talk about it?"

 _"Not really. At least not right now. I just want to sleep."_

"Okay. I just had to check on you because of the text I got from you. It sounded pretty serious."

 _"Yeah. I'll talk to you about it later. I'm not in a talkative mood right now."_

"Alright. Just promise me that you're going to be okay."

 _"I'll be okay eventually. I promise."_

"I'm worried about you, Els. You know that, right?"

 _"I know. I don't mean to worry you."_

"Well, I'm here if you need me. I'll let you go back to sleep. Talk to you later."

 _"Okay."_

As soon as he hung up, he knew something was wrong. The problem was he couldn't get her to talk to him. She did this a lot, and he didn't know why. Always keeping secrets from him when he was supposed to be the one person she could tell anything to. But, she had been doing that as long as he's known her. At least when she was younger she had a good reason for it. But they were nearly adults now, and they were still best friends and extremely close. He just wished she'd confide in him more. It was frustrating always being the last to know.

He hopped back on his computer long enough to tell his friends what happened, then signed off. He didn't feel much like being on the computer. What he'd rather be doing is laying in bed while staring at the ceiling, praying for it to collapse and end his suffering. Between the self-loathing and the fear, he didn't quite feel like existing anymore. So, he kicked off his shoes, climbed back under the covers, laid his phone down beside him, and stared.

00000

His mother came in at nearly 9 pm to wake him for dinner. At some point, he had managed to actually pass out for a short bit. The problem was that, as soon as his eyes were open, the headache came back. It wasn't nearly as strong as it had been, and he figured it had something to do with actually getting a couple hours of sleep. His body was stiff and sore, and he was a little too warm. When he did finally decide to extract himself from his blanket that had somehow managed to wrap itself around his left leg, he slowly dragged himself out to the dinning room where dinner was waiting for him.

His mother had made spaghetti with some store-bought sauce and garlic bread. It made him frown a little. Ever since Elsa had started cooking for them, Micah and his friends had fallen in love with her food and were now utterly spoiled. So much so that even his own mother's cooking wasn't good enough. He would still stomach it, but he really longed for Elsa's cooking.

While he sat down and ate, that was all he could think about. Elsa. She was constantly on his mind anymore, and it wasn't helping with his depression and other issues. In fact, it made things worse. But it hurt him so much that he couldn't come clean to her. It twisted his stomach into painful knots. It was causing him to lose sleep. It wasn't really the other thoughts so much. The self-loathing, the doubt, the hatred, and the depression. That stuff was always there, but it was muted in comparison to the obsessive thoughts he was having about the girl he couldn't have. He longed for her touch, her embrace, her lips on his. Everything about her was amazing and perfect to him. From the curves of her body to that beautiful snowy blonde hair that was like silk.

After dinner, he headed back to his room and hopped online, hoping against hope she was there. Everyone else was, but she wasn't. She hadn't been online all day from what it looked like. Checking his phone for missed calls, he was slightly disappointed to see that she hadn't called him back. Then out of nowhere he got a private message from Rose.

 _Mikasa Ackerman: There you are. What happened? You just sort of logged off without saying why._

 _Raging Rajang: Sorry, I wasn't feeling good. But Elsa isn't doing that well either. I don't know what happened._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: She's going to hate me, but I know what it might be._

 _Raging Rajang: Why would she hate you?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Because she begged me not to tell you. I did, at least, tell her that I couldn't make that promise._

 _Raging Rajang: Okay, you have me worried. What happened?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: She got a phone call from Jeremy early this morning asking her to meet up with him at the mall so they could talk. For some god damn reason, she said yes. This was at like 1:30 pm. We haven't heard from her since._

 _Raging Rajang: She what!? God damn it! What the hell was she thinking!?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: We don't know. She said she needed closure. But she swore she wouldn't go anywhere with him, or let him touch her, or have sex with the asshole. So at least you don't have to worry about that._

 _Raging Rajang: And she didn't want me to know. Why?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: No idea. I can only guess that she didn't want you getting pissed and trying to do something about it._

 _Raging Rajang: Well, I'm pissed now!_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Yeah, we're not too thrilled with her either. Anna doesn't know as far as I'm aware, but Kristoff might have told her already._

 _Raging Rajang: Something must have happened then. That would be why she slept all day._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: That would be my guess._

 _Raging Rajang: Damn it. Anyway, I'll wait to talk to her tomorrow then. See if she comes clean to me about it. I did get a text from her that was weird, but it makes sense now._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: You did? What did it say?_

 _Raging Rajang: That she was sorry about something, and that she wanted me to forgive her. Also that she would never do it again. I now know what that would be._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: I'm sorry Micah. I tried calling you. We all did._

 _Raging Rajang: Yeah, it's my fault. My phone was set to silent mode._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Well, maybe you shouldn't do that again._

 _Raging Rajang: Yeah. Hey, can I tell you something? I can't tell Elsa, otherwise I wouldn't be bothering you with it._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: You can tell me anything, Micah. Come on now. I would like to think that we're all pretty close._

 _Raging Rajang: Yeah, you're right. Anyway, I've been having a lot of strange and disturbing thoughts. Like, I hate myself for what happened with Amber. I hate the fact that I let her drag me down for so long, and that I distanced myself from the people that I needed most in my life. Especially Elsa. My depression is getting worse, like really bad. I doubt everything about myself. I feel worthless. That I'll just let you all down no matter what I do._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Micah, that isn't true sweetie. You don't need to hate yourself at all. We have all forgiven you for ditching us, especially now that we understand the reasoning behind it, even if it wasn't good. You are not worthless at all. I can promise you that. You mean a lot to us. Just think about how Elsa feels about you. You are everything to that girl. So don't doubt yourself, because you have no reason to. You haven't let us down yet, and I don't think you're ever going to. We may be disappointed in some of the decisions that you make, but you are not a let down. You are a great guy and great friend. Elsa would be the luckiest girl in the world if she were to be with you._

 _Raging Rajang: That's the other thing. I can't get Elsa out of my head. No matter what I do, she's all I've been able to think about. Every second I'm awake I think about her. At night, when I do actually manage to sleep, she invades my dreams. It's driving me crazy. I don't know what to do. I think I'm losing my mind._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Micah, you need to tell Elsa how you feel. You can't keep doing this to yourself, or to her. All you're doing is hurting yourself. Go tell her how you feel. I swear to God himself that she will not turn away from you or anything._

 _Raging Rajang: You can't possibly know that. I've known Elsa forever. It would scare her and make things awkward as hell if I just come out and tell her._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Okay, I can't do this anymore._

 _Raging Rajang: Can't do what?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: I can't sit here and watch you two do this._

 _Raging Rajang: What are you talking about?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Micah, Elsa is in love with you._

Micah's heart seemingly stopped. His mouth hung open, and he just stared at the screen in disbelief. It took him a few seconds to regather himself. When he finally managed to pull himself back together, he had no idea what to say.

 _Raging Rajang: Say what._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: I said Elsa is in love with you, dumbass. She has been since sixth grade, possibly longer._

 _Raging Rajang: Wait, what? How do you know?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: I figured it out right away. Then I kind of forced her into admitting it. I've known for quite awhile now. Years, actually._

 _Raging Rajang: And you never thought to tell me this!?_

 _Miksasa Ackerman: I was sworn to secrecy. But I have been trying for so damn long to get you two to admit your feelings for one another, and I couldn't handle it any longer. You two have struggled and suffered long enough. When she got together with Jeremy, she was dead certain that you would never love her. Ever. Then I accidentally let it slip how you felt about her. That's part of the reason she broke up with the son of a bitch. The other reason being the abuse and rape._

 _Raging Rajang: RAPE!?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Yeah, we just found out earlier today too, so don't feel too bad._

 _Raging Rajang: I'm going to kill him. I will cut his balls off and feed them to him._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: While I admire your desire to put an end to the bastard, he's not the main focus right now. Elsa is. So focus._

 _Raging Rajang: It's kind of hard to focus when the love of your life has been raped!_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Micah, please, calm down and focus. This happened a long time ago, and nothing can be done about it now. So focus here._

 _Raging Rajang: Alright. I'll try._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Good. So yeah, I told her on accident. I'm sorry. She has been waiting for a very long time, but you were with Amber and she didn't want to interfere with that. And now, she's back to believing that you two will never be together. I'm pretty sure her depression is getting worse again because of it._

 _Raging Rajang: So, what should I do then?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Did you really just ask me that?_

 _Raging Rajang: ...Yes?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: You go and tell her you moron!_

 _Raging Rajang: Okay, what time is it now?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Jesus Christ, you have a phone and a computer. But it's almost 10 pm._

 _Raging Rajang: Do you think she's awake?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: If she's been sleeping all day, then probably. If not, try tomorrow. Or call her and tell her over the phone._

 _Raging Rajang: No, this has to be done in person. I'm going to head over there._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Micah, the storm is getting worse. It pouring right now, and the thunder and lightning is getting more frequent. I wouldn't go out in this._

 _Raging Rajang: It's just around the corner a couple blocks. I can get there in no time._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Well, I'm not one to get in the way of love, so you go ahead and run over there you ballsy bastard. I'm rooting for you._

 _Raging Rajang: Awesome. And thanks. I mean it._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: No problem. Now get over there and woo that girl you dork._

00000

The rain was coming down hard, and the water kept getting in his eyes. Micah was running as fast as he could, not really caring how soaking wet he already was. Washington weather was odd. The summer time was usually hot and humid, and rarely ever saw any rain. Every now and then a rogue storm would slip in and out, but it'd only last a few hours. Once every few years, though, a fairly decent-sized storm would roll through and surprise everyone. This particular storm was quite the surprise.

He was almost to Elsa's house when he stopped to catch his breath. It was more than just a couple of blocks, but he didn't want to admit that. Though he had been able to make the run there in roughly five minutes, that was under optimal conditions. Being soaked to the bone and blinded by the rain in the middle of the night was far from optimal. His clothes were sticking to him and he was hot. The rain did little to cool him down. If anything, it was warm and just making things more difficult for him. _Why the hell didn't I just drive over there? This was stupid._

There was just one more block to go when he got a text from Kristoff. He considered ignoring it, but he figured he was already stopped so why not.

 _Good luck, bro. You're doing the right thing. I told Anna too, and she's super excited. I hope you don't mind._

Sending a quick reply telling him not to worry about it, Micah took one last deep breath and continued on his way. It had been a while since he last did this, and his lungs were on fire and his legs wanted to give out. He kept telling himself that it wasn't that far from his house to begin with, but the last time he did this he was a bit younger and in slightly better shape.

Soon enough he found himself standing outside Elsa's house. Her window looked out over the street, so it was convenient. He considered grabbing some small rocks to toss at it, but then he thought that was stupid since he had a phone. He didn't want to wake Melissa up since she typically went to bed rather early, so he just stood in the front yard and called her.

 _"Hello?"_ Elsa asked just as sleepily as she did that afternoon.

"Hey beautiful," Micah replied nervously.

 _"Micah? It's 10:15 pm. Why are you calling so late?"_

"I just had to talk to you. Will you go to your window, please?"

 _"My window? Why?"_

"Just do it."

Moments later, a light flicked on inside her room, and he watched impatiently as she drew back the curtains and slid her window open.

"Micah, what the hell are you doing?"

"I needed to see you! Can I come in?" he shouted.

"Hold on."

The wait for her to come to the door was agonizing, and he wasn't even sure why. He had no idea what he was going to do or say either. That part he forgot to think through. But he didn't really care. He was just going to make it up as he went.

Soon the front door opened, and Elsa was standing there in her pajamas with her hair up in a messy bun. She looked exhausted.

"Get in here before you get pneumonia or something," she ordered him.

Gladly, he obliged, and followed her inside and up the stairs. His heart was pounding like a war drum in his chest, and he had the stupidest smile on his face. He was trying hard to keep his cool, but he was pretty sure he was failing miserably.

"Here, let me get you a towel," she said as she ducked into the bathroom for a brief moment. Then she tossed it at him and led him down the hall to her room.

"Sorry for coming over so late," he said, " but I really needed to see you and talk to you."

"Micah, what has gotten into you?" Elsa asked as she closed the door behind them.

"I've been trying to get a hold of you, but you've been asleep all day."

"I know. I'm just not feeling all that good. I'm sorry."

"Wait, what happened to the side of your face?" His eyes narrowed as he grabbed her under the chin and turned her head so he could get a closer look.

"It's nothing," she lied.

"Elsa, I know about you going to see Jeremy today."

"Y-you do?"

"Yeah. Did he do this? Did he hit you?"

Elsa didn't say anything. Her silence told him everything he needed to know, and he felt himself getting angry again. But now wasn't the time for that.

"Look, I'll reprimand you about agreeing to meet with him later. That's not why I came over," he told her.

"Why did you come over? It's late, and I just want to be in bed."

"Elsa, there has been something I've been wanting to tell you for a very long time, but I've been so much of a coward that I never bothered to open my mouth. Then when you got together with Jeremy, I kind of lost all hope. The reason I got together with Amber is because I knew there was no way I could ever come out and say it. But things are different now, and I firmly believe that I am making the right decision. Finally."

"Micah, I'm not sure I follow."

"Elsa Lynn Erickson, I love you."


	24. Chapter 24 - Glycerine

**A/N: Wow, the feedback I got for the last chapter was pretty good. Between PMs and reviews, it seems I made quite a few people happy, if not a little frustrated with the ending. Don't worry, I'll make it all up to you with this wonderful chapter. I promise.**

 **Just to note, the story still has a long way to go before being completed. We're not even at the half-way point. Plus I still have some surprises coming up in the coming chapters. You didn't think I'd let things go without some drama and happiness, did you?**

 **Er, anyway, enough of me blabbing. Enjoy this overly happy chapter.**

 **Chapter 24**

 _Glycerine_

Elsa just stood there, frozen in place and wide eyed. Her brain was working overtime just trying to comprehend what she had just heard leave Micah's lips. The words didn't make any sense. Nothing did at the moment. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't move, and she couldn't even blink. Whatever it was that he had said to her, it petrified her. There she stood, like a stone. Still and silent.

It seemed like an eternity passed before either of them moved or said a word. They just stared at one another, though Micah had an expectant look on his face, like he was waiting for some sort of reaction. When it didn't come, he began to grow concerned.

"Elsa, are you alright?" he asked quietly.

Suddenly, in a rush of emotions, everything hit her all at once. The love, the hurt, the depression, the fear. All of it. It came crashing down on her like a flood, and it overwhelmed her senses. There was no telling which way was up. She was drowning. Then, as if her energy had been completely sapped, she fell to her knees and began to cry. Micah was at her side in an instant, throwing his arms around her and trying his best to comfort her.

"Please, don't cry. It's okay. Everything is okay," he said soothingly.

Elsa had buried her face in her hands and was sobbing, but had enough sense to shake her head. "No, it's not! Nothing is okay! You can't do this to me! Not now!"

"I don't understand. What's wrong?"

"Micah, do you have any idea how long I've been waiting for you tell me that!? _Years!_ I had completely given up hope! I was prepared to be alone! You can't do this to me after all this time!"

"Calm down, please. Let's sit down and talk about it. Okay?" he said gently.

After a minute of her nearly hyperventilating, she nodded. Helping her to her feet, Micah slowly led her to the bed and sat down with her. She was still sniffling and trying not to cry any more, but wasn't doing that good of a job at calming herself. He took pity on her.

"Okay, so, are you doing any better?" he asked as he began to give her a delicate back rub.

"Yeah, I think so," she said while sniffling. "But why now, Micah?"

"Because, I couldn't take it anymore. You have been on my mind constantly lately. I've been unable to sleep because of it, among other reasons. But you are all I think about. I just couldn't do it anymore. It was hurting too much to hide my feelings."

"But tonight? You ran here in the pouring rain. There's thunder and lightning. What if you had gotten hurt? I couldn't handle that. Why couldn't this wait until tomorrow?"

"I had to see you. It had to be tonight. I was tired of waiting and putting it off. If I didn't do it now, I probably never would have."

Elsa was still having trouble processing everything. She was staring down at the floor, and her hands were busy toying with the hem of her shirt, just like always when she was nervous. There were still tears dripping down her cheeks. Micah lifted his hand to rest on her face and wiped them away with his thumb. Leaning into his touch, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Please, no more crying. I don't want to see you upset."

"I'm not upset. I'm happy. You have no idea what this means to me," she said as she began to smile.

"Well, I'd like to know just what it means then."

This broadened her smile, and she twisted around just enough so she could look into his deep green eyes. Placing her hands on either side of his head, she drew him close as she leaned in. Then their lips met. It was just a light touch at first, barely grazing one another. He could feel the heat of her breath on his face, and he could sense just how frightened she was. So, he took the initiative and leaned the rest of the way in, smashing their lips together.

For the first time, there was something there. Something magnificent. Something wonderful. All the sparks and fireworks that Elsa had hoped and prayed that she would one day experience exploded all around her. There was a rush of adrenaline coursing through her veins, an energy she had never experienced before. Feelings she didn't know were possible. It all hit her at once like a freight train, and it was glorious.

When he pulled away, Elsa nearly whimpered. She didn't want it to be over. But they were both breathing a little heavier than either expected. She had a look of ecstasy in her eyes, and her cheeks were lightly flushed. There was a desire to do it once more, but she didn't know if it would be appropriate to take charge again. So, she bit her bottom lip and and tried hard not to stare at his.

"Whoa," he said after a few moments of trying to gather his wits.

"Yeah," she agreed. "It's never felt like that before."

"No, it hasn't."

"So, now what?"

"I dunno. What does this mean for us?" he asked.

Elsa simply shrugged, and tried not to stare at him. She had no idea what to say.

"Maybe we should figure that out then."

"Yeah, maybe. But I don't know how this is supposed to work. I mean, with Jeremy I felt nothing. He just sort of told me to be his girlfriend. I felt like I didn't have a choice. With you, it's completely different. I have waited for that kiss for years."

"Was it at least good?"

"Micah, it was amazing. I've never felt anything like it before."

"Yeah, me neither. It was totally worth the wait though."

"It was. I'm just glad you couldn't wait any longer."

"Me too," he said with a chuckle. "So, um, I guess this is where I ask you if you want to go on a date with me."

"I'd love to."

"You would? That's great! Obviously not tonight."

"Obviously. But tomorrow works."

"Yeah, tomorrow. Okay. Um, I don't know where to take you. Amber and I never really did anything like this. You pretty much saw our entire relationship," he admitted.

"We can do something simple, like Red Robin over by the mall," Elsa suggested.

"That sounds good, actually. Okay, we can go have dinner tomorrow night there. Maybe around 7ish?"

"That'd be great," she replied with a smile.

"Alright, well, now that that is figured out, I should probably head home."

"Well, you don't _have_ to if you don't want to," Elsa said shyly.

"I don't want to. I really don't," he admitted.

"You can stay the night here if you want. I mean, I would really love it if you did, but you don't have to. I just thought that you'd rather not have to walk home in the rain, and I'd feel better if you-"

"Elsa, I'd love to stay the night with you. It's just my clothes are soaking wet."

"Oh. Right. Um, I can throw them in the dryer if you want. But that would mean you'd have to take them off, and I doubt you want to do that because-"

"Relax, please. I honestly don't mind sleeping in my boxers. I'll just sleep in the guest room. Then in the morning you can grab them for me and I'll get dressed before coming out. It'll be fine."

"Well, it's just that, um... You see, I'd..." She fumbled over her words, and her cheeks blushed a deep shade of red. Whatever she was about to say embarrassed her.

"What is it? You can tell me."

"Okay. Well, um, I was trying to say is that, uh, I'd really like it if you slept with me. In here. Maybe cuddle with me in my bed. Not sex. Definitely not sex. Unless you want to, then I guess that would-"

"Elsa, you're being awkward again," he interrupted her. "Just take slow, deep breaths and try to focus your thoughts, because right now you're talking way too fast. Also, I don't want to have sex, so don't worry about that. At least, not yet. It's way too early for us to even consider it. Let's at least date for a little bit before that topic even comes up, okay? I don't want you thinking that's all I want, and that I'll take advantage of you. Because that isn't me at all."

"I know that's not what you want. I'm sorry I said it, it came out before I could control my mouth. You just have me so flustered right now."

This put a big, goofy grin on Micah's face. "Do I now?"

"Yes, you jerk," she said as she playfully punched him in the arm.

"Well, I'm sorry. But I will take you up on that offer to cuddle with you. I've kind of always wanted to do that."

"Um, okay. If we're going to do that, you need to strip. So, um, get to it," she commanded. She was still blushing, and trying hard not to stare as he did as he was told.

After he handed her his dampened clothes and she headed to the washroom to toss them in the dryer, he suddenly felt very exposed. It wasn't the first time he'd been in just shorts around her, but this was something different. So, he sat on the edge of the bed and kind of just thought things over in his head. He had no idea things were going to turn out the way they had, but he was thankful they did. To finally be able to tell the girl that he loved how he felt about her was an amazing and liberating feeling. He no longer had to hide. He was no longer left to feel alone, or to hurt silently.

When she returned, she closed her door and motioned with her finger for him to come to her with a seductive smile. He did as she demanded, and when he got close she pulled him into a very intimate embrace, and gently kissed him on the lips. She had her arms wrapped around the back of his neck, and she just stared into his eyes and smiled. Then she giggled and rested her forehead on his, still smiling like a fool. To her, it felt right. It was what she had always wanted, and it was perfect.

"I want you to know how much I love you, Micah," she said softly. "When I said you were the most important person in my life, I meant it. It was as close to an admission of my feelings to you as I was able to give without actually saying the words. I was so terrified for so long that you would reject me if I ever came clean to you, and it made me miserable for so long. But oh god how I wanted to tell you. I wanted you to save me from my father, but I was too scared. You were the only thing keeping me going. I hope you know that. Then when you were in the hospital, Rose told me how you felt, and I decided to wait for you. It's partly why I broke things off with Jeremy. That and he was a complete asshole. But I have wanted you for so long that it hurt when you got together with Amber, which I know isn't fair because it must have hurt you when I started dating Jeremy. I just want to say that I am so sorry it took me so long to realize that you loved me."

"Sweetheart, you have no reason to be sorry," he replied. "Yeah, it hurt when you got together with that prick, and it hurt even more when I found out how he was treating you. But I'm the one that should be sorry, because of Amber I turned my back on the best thing to ever happen to me. You. I was so hurt that I tried to numb myself with whatever bullshit Amber tried to drag me through. I thought that was what I was supposed to have, because I didn't think I could have you. I still wouldn't have come tonight if Rose hadn't broken her promise to you and told me everything. She said she was sick and tired of watching us struggle with this. Honestly, I am so thankful to her right now for what she did."

"This might be the one time that I am happy Rose betrayed me," Elsa said with a giggle.

"So, I guess this is what you almost told me back at sixth grade camp."

"Yeah. I almost royally screwed up then, although it apparently wouldn't have been a bad thing after all. But let's be honest here. We wouldn't have lasted if we got together so young."

"No, probably not. But I do have a question."

"You can ask me anything. You know that."

"Right. Anyway, does this mean that you'll be my girlfriend?"

"Yes, Micah, I'll be your girlfriend. I was waiting for you to ask me. It feels good to say it, too," she said, her smile being one of pure joy.

"Things are going to be different from here on out, aren't they?"

"Yeah, I think so. But hopefully for the better."

"Are things gonna get weird for us? Like, what if we break up? And how are things gonna be with our friends?"

"Why are you even thinking about us breaking up already?"

"I dunno, it's just a fear I have. Like, I'm afraid that I'll screw something up and ruin everything. I'm already an emotional mess."

"I'm a mess too, Micah. And you won't screw anything up. We've been friends far too long for that to happen."

"Yeah, you're right. Sorry."

"Now, why don't we go crawl underneath those blankets and cuddle."

"That sounds really nice."

00000

The blinding rays of the early morning sun were beaming directly into Micah's eyes, forcing him to squint the moment his eyelids fluttered open. It was enough to where he had to raise his hand up to shield his face from the light. Then he felt movement next to him, and that was when he remembered he had slept in Elsa's bed.

He was laying on his back with his arm around her, and she was sprawled out on his chest and side. Her breathing was light and rhythmic, meaning that she was still sound asleep. Out of fear of waking her, he just laid there and watched her, smiling to himself. She was absolutely gorgeous. He likened her to what he imagined an angel would look like. Pure and heavenly. Her silky hair had escaped the lazy bun she had had it in during the night, and now was splayed out in all directions. There was still the hint of her shampoo clinging to the strands, and it was some fruity scent. He wasn't sure what it was, but it smelled wonderful.

At some point in the night he had received a text message from someone, and he reached over to the nightstand to grab his phone. When he turned the screen on, he saw that he had a text from both Kristoff and Rose. They were basically just asking how everything went, but he didn't feel like responding just then. What he really wanted to do was just lay there and enjoy the silence while watching his girlfriend sleep.

Girlfriend. That was a new one. Something he never thought he'd say about Elsa. They had spent so long hiding from one another that they had missed out on something special. Something that could quite possibly be the best decision either had ever made. But that was in the past now. They had just spent an incredible night together, laying in each other's arms. It was exciting to finally be able to do that with the girl he had loved since sixth grade.

After awhile, Elsa began to stir and slowly opened her eyes. When she looked up at him, she immediately smiled.

"Good morning, sweetheart," she said sweetly.

"Good morning to you too," he replied. "Did you get enough sleep?"

"The most I've had in a long time. I've never slept so peacefully. How about you?"

"It was very restful. I didn't have to worry about things last night. Everything is turning out better than I had hoped."

"That's good," Elsa said as she snuggled in closer to him, wrapping her legs around his. "Mmm, I can get used to this."

"I could too, but unfortunately I doubt our parents will let that happen."

"I don't know about that. They've been pretty lax about a lot of things the last few years."

Micah had to fight back a yawn as he slowly stretched his back and arms. He tried not to disturb Elsa too much, but she shifted enough for him to finish.

"We should probably get up. It's almost 9 am."

"I don't want to. I'm comfortable and enjoying this."

"Me too, but you're mom is probably already up and she isn't going to be too happy that I slept in your bed in my boxers."

"She doesn't have to know. I can sneak downstairs and get your stuff. That won't be an issue."

"Okay. Afterwards we can get breakfast. Maybe go to Denny's or IHOP?"

"I'd rather cook us something. How does eggs and toast sound?"

"Can we have sausage too?"

"Of course. I'll be right back."

She wasn't gone more than two minutes before she returned with his clothes. As he got dressed, Elsa sat there and watched, enjoying the view a little too much. Micah somehow didn't seem to notice. But, she appreciated his body a lot, especially when she got to cuddle with him all night long. It was like a dream come true. A dream she had been having for what felt like ages.

In the kitchen, Elsa was rummaging through the refrigerator while Micah busied himself with making some coffee. Every now and then he would steal a glance at his girlfriend, admiring the view of her bent over while looking for the sausage links. Then he would quickly reprimanded himself for acting like a pervert and would go back to preparing the coffee. Of course, he couldn't stop himself from thinking about it. He never really had thoughts like this about Amber.

The smell of the eggs and sausage on the stove was mouth-watering, and the coffee was just what they needed. Not that either was exhausted; they had slept more than they had in a long time. But the food smelled amazing, at least to Micah, and it was a tease that he had to wait for it to finish cooking. His stomach grumbled loudly, telling him and Elsa that she needed to speed up the cooking process as much as possible. It embarrassed him and made her giggle. Just listening to that sound was worth it.

By the time their food was done, Anna had woken up and joined them in the dining room after making her own breakfast. She was surprised to see Micah was there so early, but she was pretty sure she knew why. Looking from Elsa to Micah, she had a big grin on her face and wiggled her eyebrows.

"So, how did you two sleep?" Anna asked teasingly.

"Fine," they said in unison.

"Just 'fine'? Seriously? You're gonna have to do better than that."

"Okay, we slept very well. Happy now?" Elsa said.

"Yeah, I guess. So, was it worth the wait?"

"You have no idea."

"I'll take that as a yes. But how is mom going to react when she finds out Micah and you slept together?"

"Wait, we did _not_ sleep together!" Elsa exclaimed.

"I didn't mean it like that, Elsa," Anna told her. "I meant in the same bed. Sheesh."

"She doesn't have to know, does she?" Micah asked quietly.

"No, she doesn't," Elsa replied. "And it's going to stay that way for now, isn't it Anna?"

"Hey, I'm not saying a word," Anna promised. "I think it's about time you two got together. It was so painfully obvious how you guys felt about each other. I'm surprised you couldn't see it before."

"Yes, we were stupid, okay? Happy?"

"Not really. I mean, I felt bad for you guys. All we wanted for you two was for you to be happy together. It's just about time that you figured it out."

"Well, to be fair, Rose sort of helped me out there," Micah admitted sheepishly.

"Yeah, I know," Anna said nonchalantly. "She told us what happened. It's unfortunate that she had to be so blunt with you, Micah. I mean, Elsa was dropping you all sorts of hints after she found out how you felt."

"I may not be the most perceptive person on the planet."

"Neither of you are when it comes to this stuff."

"Okay, we get it, we were oblivious," Elsa groaned.

"So what are you guys gonna do about our moms?"

"They're going to have to find out eventually. So, we might as well tell them."

"Tell us what?" Melissa asked, startling them.

She had been standing in the entryway to the dining room for a little while now, listening to their conversation. She had a smirk on her face that told them she had heard enough.

"Mom! How long have you been listening to us!?" Elsa panicked.

"Long enough," Melissa admitted coolly. "And let me tell you, it's about time you two got together. Jenny and I have been wondering for a long time when you would start dating. We knew it was only a matter of time."

Both of them began to blush out of embarrassment, and refused to look her in the eyes at all. Letting out a short laugh, she walked around the table and gave them both a hug, then ruffled Micah's hair. It was rather endearing to know that she was okay with them dating. They both greatly appreciated her acceptance.

"Melissa, I just want to say thanks for not freaking out. It means a lot that you support us," Micah said. He was a little nervous, but not as much now that he knew she was okay with them.

"You're welcome, sweetie. Just, try not to make it a habit to sleep in your boxers when you stay the night."

Once again, her comment made both of them blush quite badly. Anna let out a snort of laughter and rolled her eyes at her mom.

"How did you know?" Elsa asked as she tried to recover.

"I poked my head in like I usually do in the morning. Needless to say I was a little shocked, but it didn't bother me that much, surprisingly. Just, please use protection."

"We did not have sex!" Elsa shouted.

There was an eruption of laughter from her sister and mother before Melissa grabbed some coffee and headed down to her office. Anna could barely contain herself, as she was laughing like a baboon.

"I don't know how much more I can take of this," Elsa said under her breath.

"Want to head back to your room?" Micah asked.

"Yes."

They swallowed the rest of their breakfast in just a couple of bites before putting their dishes away and heading back to Elsa's room. The dark blue curtains were still pulled shut, though the sun was sneaking in around the edges, illuminating the room with a nice warm glow. Ellie was still asleep at the foot of the bed, though she looked up when they entered the room. She began to pant and wag her tail as they sat down on the edge of the bed. Then Elsa reached over and grabbed Micah's hand and squeezed.

"So, what do you want to do today?" Micah finally asked.

"I kind of just want to relax. Maybe we can go for a walk at the park after lunch. Does that sound okay?"

"Yeah, that sounds great. We've never done that before really."

"I thought it might be a nice thing to do as a couple. Kind of quiet and a way for just us to spend some time together."

"Yeah. I'm gonna have to run home and shower though. And definitely get a change of clothes."

"I can drive you over in a little bit if you'd like. It's better than walking all that way."

"True. But then you'll have to wait for me to shower. You don't wanna do that."

"I don't mind at all. Besides, I need to take one here shortly before we do anything."

"Alright. Let me see the side of your face again," he commanded.

When she turned her head, he could see that her jaw and cheek were starting to turn a shade of purple. Jeremy had hit her pretty hard. This angered Micah a lot, and he clicked his tongue to show his frustration. As he ran his thumb over it gently, Elsa hissed in pain.

"I am so sorry, baby. He should have never done that. I so desperately want to hurt him right now."

"Sweetheart, it's okay" Elsa assured him. "He was arrested for it. I'm pressing charges. He's going to end up spending a little time in jail, and then there will be a court hearing. They have enough eyewitnesses that filled out statements that he's going to be in some serious trouble. Plus I'm going to file for a restraining order. So everything will be fine. He'll never be able to hurt me again."

"I hope not. I can't stand the thought of you being treated that way. When I found out what he was doing to you, I was pissed. I so desperately wanted to kick his ass. I mean, what kind of coward beats a woman for no reason? There is nothing you could have done to warrant that kind of treatment."

"I know," she admitted. "He had me brainwashed into believing that it was all my fault. That if I had only just listened to him, it wouldn't have angered him. Then he wouldn't have done what he did. It took talking to Dr. Cohen for me to realize just how bad the situation really was. Without her help, I don't think I could have left him."

"Just promise me that this is all over and done with. That you have no reason to see him ever again," Micah pleaded.

"I will never speak to him ever again, let alone see him. I finally got the closure I needed. He's in jail and hopefully he'll stay there for at least a few days."

"Yeah. Well, why don't you go hop in the shower and get ready to take me back to my place. My mom is home today, so we can tell her the good news. Then I can grab my stuff and bring it over here, and we can hopefully get a game going with the others if they're online. Then tonight we can go on that date that I promised you. How does that all sound?"

"It sounds wonderful," Elsa said with a lopsided smile.


	25. Chapter 25 - Micah's Curse

**A/N: I hope you guys have enjoyed the last few chapters. There was finally a payoff for all of you, which I knew you were dying for.**

 **There is one thing I want to bring up, and it's not even important. It's just a bit of trivia more than anything. The last chapter, Glycerine, was named after the song Glycerine by Bush, a 90's alternative grunge/rock band from the UK. It's a very bittersweet love song. Well, not only is it mentioned in an earlier chapter(when they get the results back for the SATs), but that song is also the main inspiration for this story. It's also a personal favorite of mine. If you've never heard the song before, I urge you to check it out.**

 **Anyway, on to the chapter. I hope you're ready for things to get back on track.**

 **Chapter 25**

 _Micah's Curse_

"Elsa, you look beautiful," Micah said with a whistle.

"I'm just wearing my regular clothes. I fail to see how this makes me beautiful," she responded.

"No, I meant your makeup. You normally don't wear any."

Elsa looked at herself in the mirror that was hanging on her closet door. Her hair was back in it's customary braid, she had dark purple eyeshadow and pink lipstick on. To her, she looked plain. "All I did was put on some eyeshadow and lipstick. Maybe a light powdering of blush. It's nothing fancy."

"Yeah, well, it looks great regardless," he reassured her. He walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist before kissing her delicately on the cheek.

"We might want to get going soon if we want to be there before the crowds get too bad. As it is we're going to have a fifteen to twenty minute wait."

"Okay. Do you want me to drive or do you feel up to it?"

"I couldn't care less. I just know I'm hungry and I've been looking forward to this date since last night."

Grabbing her purse before walking out the door, Elsa and Micah said their goodbyes to everyone before getting in the car and heading towards the mall. Traffic was rather heavy, even for a Friday night, but it gave them extra time to just enjoy each other's company. Not that they really needed it. They had spent the entire day together, just the two of them. They hung out at Elsa's playing games and talking to their friends, who were more than excited for them finally getting together. It was endearing to know that their friends were so supportive of their newfound relationship. It made both of them feel better about it, like they had made the right choice.

The drive was slower than either had anticipated, and took them over thirty minutes to drive just a few miles. By the time they managed to pull into the parking lot, their stomachs were growling. If they didn't know each other very well, it would have been somewhat embarrassing. It actually almost was, for some strange reason neither could explain. Things felt different since they had officially become a couple. There was this feeling that they were being judged all of a sudden, even if that wasn't the case at all. It was difficult for them to understand what was going on between them. The dynamics of their friendship had forever changed, but it didn't mean that they suddenly had to become different people because of it.

When they stepped inside the restaurant and were greeted by the host, they were told that there was a twenty minute wait, just like Elsa had predicted. Luckily, there was a long, rounded, cushioned red bench for them to sit on, and a big statue of a cartoon red robin holding a burger in one hand stood in the middle of the foyer. They didn't talk much; they just sat there holding hands.

Neither of them were sure that they'd ever get used to it. They had held hands before, but very rarely, and for completely different reasons. It was a type of physical contact they hadn't experienced much of in their previous relationships. Elsa practically refused to touch Jeremy almost the entirety of their relationship, and Micah only really made out with Amber. That was, for the most part, the extent either really went through with their previous significant others besides sex. Neither particularly cared for that experience much either.

After what felt like hours, they were finally escorted to a small booth at the far end of the restaurant. The hostess handed them both a menu before excusing herself, and they started pouring over the different choices inside. As was normal at most places, there were too many good options to decide from. It made choosing one rather difficult.

"Well, I hate to say it, Els," Micah said, "but it doesn't look like they have Pepsi. It's all Coke products."

Elsa sighed. "Yeah, I see that. Guess I'll just get one of their lemonades. Have you figured out what you're getting yet?"

"Nope. Although the one with the jalapeños sounds tasty."

"You can have your spicy food. I might just get a regular burger."

"Wait, you come to Red Robin and just want a regular burger? That kind of defeats the purpose of coming here."

"Not really. Their food is delicious."

"Alright, fine. Be boring."

"I will."

Soon enough, their waitress arrived and took their orders, which ended up being more difficult than either predicted since they couldn't really decide on anything. They only had to wait about five minutes for their drinks to arrive, and Micah was incredibly thirsty, downing nearly half of his as soon as it was set down in front of him.

"Leave some room for dinner, dork," Elsa said teasingly.

"Hey, it's summer time and I'm incredibly thirsty. I'm also a seventeen year old boy. I have plenty of room for food."

"Whatever."

"How's your face feeling? Any better?" Micah asked with concern.

"It still hurts. A lot. I tried to cover up the bruising as much as I could. Hopefully I did an okay job."

"You can hardly tell it's there. But it's going to be pretty ugly sadly. Have you told your mom about all the stuff Jeremy did?"

"Yeah, actually. She was rather angry with me for keeping all of that stuff secret from her. I didn't fight with her though, because I knew she was right. I shouldn't have kept it secret. I should have done something about it when it happened. But I told her everything, I swear."

"Good," he said as he took another drink of his root beer. "I don't like you keeping things secret from us. Especially me. You've done it as long as I've known you, and it frustrates me. You should have confided in me more. Trusted me."

"I did trust you, but for some reason I couldn't open up about anything. But I did finally come clean about my dad at least. But I will make this promise. I won't hide anything from you anymore. Okay? I don't want to do that to you. I hated doing it to begin with, even though I felt like I had to. It's not fair to you, and if we're going to work as a couple then I can't be doing that."

"I'm going to hold you to that. But I won't keep anything from you either. Although, I never could before anyway. You know everything there is to know about me."

"Yes I do. What do you want to do for your birthday?" Elsa asked, changing the subject. "It's only a couple weeks away."

"I dunno. Last year we went to the beach, but that turned out to be a disaster. Not sure I want to do that again."

"It was only a disaster because you were arguing with Amber. You don't have to worry about that this year. We can definitely go do something like that again and actually have fun. We can take Ellie and play with her on the beach. She'd love that."

"Yeah, that actually sounds kind of cool. We can do that if you want."

"Micah, it's your birthday. You get to decide what we do."

"Oh. Are you sure? I mean, I don't want to seem greedy or anything like that."

"It's fine," she assured him. "If you want to go to the beach again, we can do that. It'll just be the five of us."

Micah hummed to himself as he thought. It sounded like it would be fun, and he had to admit he did sort of enjoy it last time, in spite of the fact that he and Amber were at each other's throats. But the time with his friends is unforgettable. It was something he really needed.

"Okay, sure. Let's do that then. Unless real camping is something you'd prefer to do."

"That's up to you. But since it's summer already, odds are the campsites are all booked for the rest of the season. The beach isn't like that. Plus, like I said, Ellie would love it."

"Then it's settled. We don't even have to wait for my birthday if you don't want to. We can go whenever. It'll be nice to go without Amber being a complete bitch the whole time."

After about twenty-five minutes of waiting, the waitress finally arrived with their food. She even offered to refill their drinks, which Micah was on his third one. They ate in relative silence, mostly out of comfort than awkwardness. Even though they felt awkward at first, things had seemed to calm down. Micah had been nervous that he'd screw up the entire date, but so far things seemed to be going quite well. They weren't arguing or judging one another like he had thought, and they were able to talk about normal things with no problem. He felt that this was definitely the best thing that could ever happen to him.

Once they were done eating and had paid for their dinner, they walked back out to the car and looked around. It was barely 8:15 pm. Neither wanted to go home just yet.

"So, now what? Dinner was great, but I'm not really ready to just end the night," Micah said.

"I don't know. I'd like to just hang out somewhere. Oh, I know the perfect place we can go!" Elsa said enthusiastically.

"Yeah, where?"

"It's a surprise. Get in."

They hopped into Elsa's SUV and headed back out to the main road, cutting across town. The drive wasn't that long, but it was quiet. Traffic had died down a bit since they had first left Elsa's house, and it made getting to their mysterious destination much easier. Micah kept looking around, just trying to get a basic idea of where they could possibly be going. Soon they were near the outskirts of town, and Elsa turned off on a dirt road that wound up a hill behind some warehouses. At the top of the hill, they came to a stop that looked out over a lake below. The city lights shimmered on the glassy surface, dancing every now and then when the water was disturbed by something falling in or a fish bobbing up at the surface.

"Here we are. What do you think?" she asked expectantly.

"Elsa, this is a great view. How'd you find it?"

"Jeremy showed it to me. It's one of the only good things to come out of that relationship. It's kind of romantic. Come on."

Elsa climbed out of the car and got up on the hood to sit down, with Micah following her lead. Staring down at the water, he threw his arm around her, and she leaned in to rest her head on his shoulder. There they sat, not speaking, simply listening to the sounds of the night. He didn't know how long they were there, and he didn't really care. Micah loved every second of it.

"What made you decide to bring me here?" he asked quietly. "I mean, this was your spot with Jeremy."

"Because I love it here, and I wanted to share it with you. It's nice and quiet, and it's sort of away from everything," she replied.

"Well, it's pretty awesome. Maybe this can be our spot now?"

"Absolutely."

"Hey, I just want to say thanks for the last twenty-four hours. This has been the best time of my life."

"You don't have to thank me, sweetheart. I'm just so happy that our dreams finally came true. You don't know how much I've wanted this. How much I needed it."

"That makes two of us. I really don't want this night to end either. But at some point we're going to have to go home," Micah lamented.

"I want you to stay the night again. Please?" Elsa begged.

"Will your mom let me? I mean, after last night I don't know what to expect."

"I can call and ask, but I'm positive she won't mind. Besides, all your stuff is there already anyway."

"Well, if you're sure, then I can't say no. I know it might sound kind of cheesy, but I really just want to wake up every morning with you laying next to me."

"It doesn't sound cheesy at all, and even if it did, I feel the same way."

"Cool. Do you want to get going? It's getting kind of late."

"Yeah, but before we do, there's something you need to do for me."

"What's that?" he asked.

Twisting just enough to face him, she wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled. "Kiss me," she whispered.

00000

That night, they were in Elsa's room laying down and watching a movie. It was Terminator 2, but neither one was really paying attention. Micah was cuddling with her as the big spoon, his arm wrapped around her waist. The movie's volume was rather low so it didn't disturb anyone. They were both pretty sure that Anna was still awake, likely talking to Kristoff. They were doing that a lot more now, and Elsa was happy for them. She hoped that they ended up together because they would make a good couple.

The movie was about half over, and it was about 11:30 pm. Neither were all that tired, not since they had gotten a lot of sleep the night before. On top of that, they wanted to spend as much time together as they could. They had always done that anyway, but now it was for entirely different reasons.

"What do you want to do tomorrow?" Micah asked quietly.

"I don't know. We need to get together with Kristoff and Rose again. Maybe we should do that."

"Alright. Maybe we can go hang out at the mall or something. Get out of the house for a bit."

"We can always take Ellie to the park. I know she'd really appreciate it, and we can just sort of hang out and maybe bring snacks or something," Elsa suggested.

"That doesn't sound bad either. We can ask them in the morning what they want to do."

"Okay."

"Have I ever told you that I love the smell of your shampoo?" he asked as he sniffed her hair.

"No, not that I can recall," she said with a giggle.

"Well, I've said it now. Also, your hair is so soft. I love it."

"Thank you, I do my best to take care of it."

"At least it's not like this ratty mess on the top of my head."

"I happen to like your hair. So don't you ever become one of those guys that shaves their head. I'll be very upset with you."

"Duly noted."

Taking a peek at the clock on her nightstand, Elsa groaned in frustration when she saw the time in big, bright red numbers. "We should probably go to sleep. It's way later than we normally stay up."

"That's not true at all. We stay up this late all the time during the summer," he reminded her.

"I know, but we should still go to sleep. At least soon. It felt so nice being able to go the whole night without a nightmare or anything. Then waking up in your arms was the best feeling ever."

"Well, I'm not ready to go to sleep just yet. Although I really am not interested in the movie that's on. How about you?"

"I don't care what we watch. I might go hop online and see if the others are still up. What about you?" she asked.

"I dunno. I'm feeling relaxed right now, so I might just stay here."

"Your laptop is wireless, dork."

"Yeah, but it's all the way over on your dresser."

Rolling her eyes at him, Elsa climbed out of bed and waltzed over to her dresser, tossed Micah's laptop at him, and sat down at her desk in order to open up her own. Once it was out of sleep mode, she hopped onto Skype to see that her friends were in fact still online. For some reason, that sort of surprised her.

 _Frosty Soul: Hey guys._

 _Feisty Firecrotch: Elsa! Hi!_

 _Frosty Soul: And who are you?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: It's Anna. We made her an account._

 _Frosty Soul: Oh. I was not informed of this. What's with the name?_

 _Dominator: We thought it was fitting._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: It totally works._

 _Feisty Firecrotch: I think it's cute and funny._

 _Frosty Soul: My friends are morons._

 _Raging Rajang: I hope that doesn't include me._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: There's loverboy. Enjoying your newfound romance?_

 _Raging Rajang: As a matter of fact, yes I am._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Maybe next time you two will listen to me. I've only been nagging you since seventh grade._

 _Frosty Soul: Yes, we're sorry Rose. We were stubborn and blind. Thank you for being a pain in the ass for so long._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: You're more than welcome, babe._

 _Dominator: So what are you two lovebirds doing up this late?_

 _Raging Rajang: It's too early to go to sleep._

 _Feisty Firecrotch: We should play a game! But something other than StarCraft. I'm not any good at that._

 _Frosty Soul: We don't really have much else we can all play together. I mean, there's Team Fortress 2, but you don't like first-person shooters either._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Well, I don't do MMOs. I don't want to live on my video game all the time._

 _Dominator: I dunno. Some of them sound kind of cool. World of Warcraft has been around for a long time and is pretty popular, so we could always try that. I think they have a free trial thing. I can look into more if you guys are interested._

 _Frosty Soul: Sure, why not?_

 _Raging Rajang: This isn't going to turn out to be like that anime Rose really likes is it? What was it called? The one where they're all trapped inside those helmet things._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Sword Art Online. And no, because I'm not going to be joining you guys._

 _Feisty Firecrotch: Come on, Rose! It's just a free trial! You don't even have to stay with it if you really hate it. We don't even know if we'll like it. But we need to expand our library of games to more than just two._

 _Raging Rajang: I kind of agree with the redhead on this one. Starcraft and TF2 are pretty cool, but I can only stomach them for so long before I get bored. It'd be nice to have something new to do. There are plenty of older games we can look into as well. We don't have to play just new games._

 _Dominator: WoW is not new. Starcraft 2 has been out for quite a while, as has TF2. So really, we're not playing anything new._

 _Raging Rajang: There's always Monster Hunter, if you guys would just bring your 3DSes over with you once in a while. Or we can always check out one of the MOBAs that are out._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: No._

 _Dominator: No._

 _Frosty Soul: Sorry babe, but no._

 _Feisty Firecrotch: Ew no._

 _Raging Rajang: Tough crowd. Don't say I didn't try._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Let's just do the thing Kristoff suggested. Unless you guys can come up with a better idea._

 _Feisty Firecrotch: Wait. I thought you were totally against the idea of playing an MMO._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Yeah, well, if the rest of you are going to try it out, I might as well suffer through it too._

 _Dominator: I can look into it right now if you guys want. Just, I doubt we'll have time to play tonight. From what I understand, it's a pretty big game, so we'll be downloading all night._

 _Frosty Soul: That's completely up to you. I'll look into too, but probably not tonight. We have nothing else going on tomorrow, so I can do it when we get up. Although we were hoping you guys would want to get together and hang out tomorrow._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Sure. I have nothing better to do. I'm kind of frustrated with the drawing I'm working on right now._

 _Frosty Soul: Why? What's wrong?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: It's just not coming together the way I wanted it to. The angle is all wrong, the details aren't as clear as I tried to make them, and I can't get a decent color scheme going at all. I'm about to scrap the damn thing and try something else._

 _Frosty Soul: That sounds frustrating. Maybe taking a break will help?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Yeah, I hope so._

 _Raging Rajang: Well, we were thinking about spending the day at the park. Ellie would really like it if we took her, and we can bring a cooler with drinks and snacks. How does that sound?_

 _Dominator: Sounds good. Just let us know when._

 _Frosty Soul: Will do._

00000

The next day, the gang met up at the park that was just down the road from Elsa's house. They had taken Ellie just like they had planned, along with her favorite frisbee, and a cooler full of Pepsi and Barq's root beer. The others weren't nearly as picky as Elsa was, and root beer was just Anna's favorite type of soda. They mostly ended up sitting under the shade of one of the canopies and played on their laptops while talking. It was difficult to pull them away from their computers for very long, and they took them practically everywhere. The only place they never took them to was school, and that was simply because they never had time to use them.

After a couple hours of just hanging out and having a relaxing time, they decided to pile into Elsa's car and go drive around. They had no destination in mind, which made it easy to just drive across town at whatever pace they decided to take. They were free to spend their time however they wanted, and it was rather liberating. It was made that much better by the fact that Elsa and Micah were no longer doing their best to hide from one another. There was less tension, and even though it didn't directly affect them, the others noticed the change in the group's overall attitude and state of being.

At some point during their drive, Micah got a text message he wasn't expecting. When he swiped his phone screen on to check, he was completely shocked. When Elsa glanced over, she saw that something was wrong.

"Hey, is everything alright?" she asked with concern in her voice.

"Um, not really no," Micah replied.

"What's wrong?"

"I just got a text... from Amber."

"You what?"

"What the hell is her number still doing on your phone!?" Rose yelled angrily.

"I don't know, I must have forgot all about it! But that isn't what's important. The text is pretty damn scary."

"Why, what does it say?"

"It says 'Micah, when are you going to come see your baby?'"

There was silence for several seconds. If they hadn't already been stopped at a red light, Elsa might have run into someone.

"Say what?" she asked in confusion.

"Does that mean what I think it means?" Rose added.

"I have no idea!" Micah exclaimed.

"Bro, is that even possible?" Kristoff asked. "I mean, I thought you two were done in January."

"We were. But she's been gone from school for awhile. Maybe a couple months after. I don't think I saw her the rest of the year really."

"Okay, I'm going to ask you a very important question. You said back on your birthday that you two hadn't had sex in awhile, and that you weren't going to anymore. You said that to me. Did you end up having sex with her again?"

"...Yes," Micah admitted.

"Bro!"

"Micah! Why didn't you tell me? You said you hadn't!" Elsa cried.

"It was back in September last year. I wasn't feeling all that well emotionally, and she came over while my mom wasn't home. She said she could cheer me up, and well..." Micah said nervously.

"Did you at least use protection, genius?" Rose asked, more angry than she had been before.

"Yes! I never went without! Elsa, I swear!"

"Then how is this possible, Micah!? How can she possible have your baby!?" Elsa yelled, panicking and having a difficult time paying attention to the road.

"I don't know!"

"Is it at all possible that it's not yours?" Anna asked. She had remained quiet up until now.

"I have no idea! I mean, she cheated on me, and apparently did it all the time, so I don't know!"

"Wait, how do we even know she had a baby? Maybe she's just trying to screw with him?"

"Is there any chance we can swing by her place?" he asked Elsa. "I have to see this for myself."

"I am not taking you to your ex-girlfriends house so you can see her baby! You must be mental if you think I'm going to do that!" Elsa said.

"Come on, Els. It'll help put this whole thing to bed if we can go see what the hell the baby looks like."

"Fine."

Begrudgingly, Elsa took the next turn they came to and drove them halfway across town to where Amber lived. It took a good ten minutes to get there, and it was a very tense drive the whole way. No one said a word, and Micah was afraid to look at Elsa at all. He knew she was furious, but he wasn't sure if it was because of him or Amber, or both.

As they parked out in front of Amber's place, Elsa got out of the car and slammed the door shut. She didn't wait for Micah to follow, though he was right behind her as fast as he could go. When they got to the door, Elsa slammed her fist as hard as she could against it. She looked royally pissed off. When Amber opened the door and saw who it was, she looked genuinely surprised.

"I wasn't expecting you to actually show up right now, Micah," she said.

"What is this bullshit about Micah being a father, Amber?" Elsa asked furiously.

"It's not bullshit. It's true. Take a look for yourself."

Amber disappeared back into the house for a brief moment, only to return with an infant in her arms.

"This is Chelsea, your daughter."

"Amber, that's impossible. We didn't have sex for _months._ Plus, you slept around, in case you forgot. There's no guarantee it's mine, and we always used protection," Micah said defiantly.

"That stuff isn't fool-proof, Micah. And I didn't cheat on you during the time I got pregnant. The only reason I even did was because you were an asshole and showed zero interest in me."

"Was that before or after your relationship was barely a couple weeks old? Because I caught you making out with other guys before I even knew you were his girlfriend, and you kept doing that after we all found out," Elsa said venomously.

"What business is it of yours what I do? Besides, we never said we were exclusive in the beginning anyway."

"That's your defense? Some insane leap in logic because you got caught red handed? You don't date someone if you aren't going to be faithful, Amber!"

"Why the hell did you bring her here, Micah? Still sleeping with her?"

"We haven't had sex, Amber! I have told you this I don't know how many times! This is exactly the reason I left your ass! You accused me of doing the exact thing you were doing the whole damn time! The only difference is I never did it! You were the only one I have ever had sex with, and that was the biggest mistake of my life! There is no way this kid is mine!" Micah was shouting at the top of his lungs, and it was starting upset the baby.

"Fine. Take a paternity test. It'll prove she's yours."

"If he's doing that, it's going to be at a real doctor. Not one of those kits you see on TV. We'll go to the clinic and have it done there. Who's name is on the birth certificate? Anyone's?" Elsa asked.

"There is no father on the birth certificate. But I know it's Micah."

"If there's no father, he has zero obligation to you and the baby. But just to prove a point, he'll take the damned test and show you that you're a liar and a moron. Then you can leave my boyfriend the hell alone."

"Boyfriend? Oh, so you two are screwing! I knew it!"

"For the last god damn time, Amber, we have not had sex!" Micah exclaimed. "Unlike you, we're not rushing right into that. Everything that happened with you was a damn mistake. I've learned my lesson, but apparently you're too damn stupid to learn yours. I'm going to leave now, and I'll go take that test just to prove to you that you are insane. Then when the test results come back and say that I'm not her father, you can stay the hell out of my life for good."

Before Amber could get another word in, they stormed out of her house and back to the car. On the way out, Elsa turned back towards her and had the angriest look on her face that she could muster.

"If you _ever_ come near Micah again, or contact him in any way, I will personally ruin you. You stay the hell away from him. You do not call him, or text him, or even think about him. Today might have been the biggest mistake of your life, but the next time you bother him, it will be the last time you ever do."

00000

"How did you not notice that she was nearly four months pregnant!?" Elsa asked in disbelief.

They were back at Elsa's house, and everyone was gathered in her room like normal. Only this time, Micah was on trial and Elsa was the judge, jury, and quite possibly his executioner. He stood there in silence, mostly out of fear for his life. Elsa was right though. He had never seen her angry before, and right now, she was both angry and scary.

"I don't know, okay! She did a good job hiding it!" He wasn't helping his case any.

"Micah, you are the biggest moron I've ever met! There must have been signs! She had to have gained weight! Babies aren't small, and at four months there are visible signs! God, you are such an idiot!"

The others were standing off to the side, watching the whole thing go down. They had never seen Elsa like this before either, and it was scary as hell. Each one made a mental note to never piss her off.

"I'm sorry, alright! I've never gone through this stuff before!"

"You went through health class, dumbass! This was basic shit we learned _at school!_ Hell, we learned this stuff back when we had to take sex ed! What the hell is wrong with you!?"

"I said I'm sorry! What do you want from me!?"

"I want you to use your god damn head! Micah, this is incredibly serious! There is a chance that that baby is yours!"

"No, there's not! I used a condom every time!"

"You don't think those things can fail!? Micah, how do you think so many accidental pregnancies happen!? This never would have happened if you had stopped having sex with her like you said!"

"I'm sorry! Okay!? I screwed up!"

"Yes, you did! And now look at the mess you've caused! We wouldn't be having this fight if you had just stopped sleeping with her!"

"How was I supposed to know we'd end up together!? At that point, I figured I was stuck with her!"

"Why does that even matter!? You had sex with her after you said you were done! If you had just abstained from sleeping with her again, this never would have happened! You wouldn't be looking at potentially being a father at the age of seventeen! You're lucky you didn't get any diseases from the slut!"

Micah didn't have anything left to say. He knew she was right on everything. The fight was essentially over, and he was completely in the wrong. He was defeated, and he looked like it too.

Sighing, Elsa sat down on the edge of her bed when she realized he wasn't going to say anything more. "Micah, what are we going to do? There's still a possibility that she can come after you for child support if you are actually the father. You're not even eighteen yet. You don't have a job. You don't have a place of your own. The worst thing is, if she wants to, she can keep you from seeing the baby if it really is yours. I'm honestly really scared."

"I don't know what else to do than to take that test. But I thought you said she can't do anything since I'm not on the birth certificate."

"She can still have your name put on there if the baby is yours. But she has to prove it first, and you have to sign it."

"Then I won't sign it. Simple as that."

"But what if the kid is really yours? Are you going to do that to your daughter?"

"She's not mine!" he declared.

"Micah, until you take that test and we get the results back, there is no way of knowing that. This is exactly why I'm so upset."

"Then Monday we'll go down to the clinic and do this."

"We still have to have Amber there with the baby. They have to take a sample from both you and Chelsea," Elsa told him.

"Okay, then I'll text her and organize it with her. But that's all I'll do. I won't talk to her about anything else, even if she tries to coax me into it."

"I guess it's unavoidable at the moment. But after this, after we prove that the baby isn't yours – which I hope to god is the case – then you can cut her out of your life. Block her number so she can't ever call you or text you again. And if the baby is somehow yours... then we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

Finally, Micah took a seat next to Elsa and took her hand in his. He didn't say anything, he just looked down at the floor and sighed. All the emotions that Amber made him feel before were creeping back in, and it was scaring the hell out of him. The fear, the anguish, the depression, the self-loathing. All of it. Unfortunately, they were all bearing down on him at once, and he wasn't sure he was going to be able to come back from it.


	26. Chapter 26 - The Talk

**Chapter 26**

 _The Talk_

That Monday, they met up with Amber at the clinic downtown at around 10 am. She wasn't at all happy to see Elsa there, and the feeling was completely mutual. The wait to see the doctor was the longest thirty minutes they had ever experienced, and Elsa dreaded every second of it. There was a very real chance that the baby was Micah's, and if it was she had no idea how that would change their lives. Technically, Micah didn't have to acknowledge the baby at all. He wasn't on the birth certificate. The baby wasn't his responsibility at that point. But the whole thing still scared the hell out of her.

When they were finally called back, Micah, Amber, and the baby followed the nurse into one of the rooms. Elsa chose to wait out in the lobby, mostly so she didn't have to be in close quarters with Amber, and because the rooms weren't big enough. Still, the wait was killing her. She had read up online what the procedure was, and it was completely simplistic. Just a q-tip swab of the inside of the mouth and that was it. The lab would take the saliva sample and compare DNA. Simple.

Only, it wasn't so simple if the results came back saying Micah was the father. That would open up a whole new disaster that they'd have to work through. That would also mean more than likely having to deal with Amber the rest of his life. That was something neither of them wanted. Elsa wasn't normally the praying type, but right then she was praying to whatever higher power would listen to her.

Luckily, they were out within fifteen minutes and were ready to leave. Micah and Elsa chose to wait until Amber and the baby were gone before leaving. After they did leave, the drive home was the quietest drive either had ever been on. When they pulled into the driveway at home, Elsa turned the car off but didn't get out right away. Instead, she leaned her head back against the seat and sighed.

"You okay?" Micah asked.

Elsa shook her head. "Not in the slightest. The test results won't be back for at least two weeks. It's going to be so damn stressful waiting. I just hope that they come back negative."

"I'm really sorry about all of this. I never suspected that this would ever happen. I was an idiot. But I did use protection every time, so at least I tried to prevent it."

"I don't even care about that anymore, sweetheart. Right now, all I care about is that this gets over and done with and that you aren't the baby's father. You don't need that bitch in your life."

As they entered the house, Ellie was there to greet them, along with both Anna and Melissa. They had told their mother what had happened, and she felt very sorry for Micah to have to go through it, although she also completely blamed him for the situation to begin with. It wasn't something anyone had expected, but it was affecting pretty much everyone.

When they got to Elsa's room, they just stood in the middle of the room and hugged. It was stressful just thinking about everything, and they were trying hard to comfort one another. When they were done, they both took a seat on the bed and just sort of stared. They didn't say anything for a long time. At some point, Elsa got a text from Rose telling her to get online. She wanted to ignore it, but decided that it was better than sitting there and thinking too much about things.

After booting up her laptop, Elsa hovered the cursor over the Skype icon and just stared at it. She didn't much feel like going online and talking to anyone. But before she knew it, Skype was open and she was being messaged.

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Hey, how'd it go?_

 _Frosty Soul: It went._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: That good, huh?_

 _Frosty Soul: We had to deal with Amber and her bullshit._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Right, I nearly forgot about that. What happened?_

 _Frosty Soul: Not much. She just wouldn't shut up the whole time. She kept telling Micah about all the stuff that was going on with the baby, how long she was in labor, how much she weighed when she was born. Stuff like that. But she was making absolutely sure that I heard everything, and the way she looked at me told me that she was enjoying my suffering._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: What a bitch. You should really kick her ass. As scary as you are when you're angry, I have no doubt that you could._

 _Frosty Soul: No, I ignored her for the most part. So did Micah. He even told her to shut up after a little bit. I was proud of him._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: So, now what?_

 _Frosty Soul: We wait. It's going to take a couple weeks to get the test results back. So all we can do is pray that it says that he's not the father so we can cut her out of our lives for good._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: I thought that since he's not on the birth certificate that he wouldn't have to be responsible._

 _Frosty Soul: Technically, he's not. But we also don't know if Amber is telling the truth on that or not. She lied about so much to him already that it's hard to believe anything that comes out of her mouth. I honestly believe she's doing everything she can to break him. I think she's trying to break us up so she can try and get him to go back to her._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Please tell me that Micah isn't falling for that._

 _Frosty Soul: Of course he isn't. He might make dumb decisions sometimes, but he's not stupid. I know he has no desire to be with her, and he's been waiting for a very long time to be with me. He isn't about to give our relationship up for anything._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: I sincerely hope not. Do you know how much of a pain in the ass it was to get you two to finally hook up? You're lucky that I have the patience of a saint, because most normal people would have given up a long time ago._

 _Frosty Soul: I know. I am still in your debt, and so is Micah._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: I know you are. You will be for a very long time._

 _Frosty Soul: Gee thanks._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Hey, my services aren't free._

 _Frosty Soul: Whatever. So, when are you going to find someone to get together with?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Please, I've got no desire to get into a relationship. Maybe after college. But it's been so much work getting you guys together, I can't imagine what it'll be like to find my own guy. Or girl. I haven't decided yet._

 _Frosty Soul: Wait, what?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: I'm bi, Elsa._

Elsa just sort of stared at the screen, not quite expecting to see her friend admit that. This was a first.

 _Frosty Soul: Oh. I had no idea. You once told me that if you were gay, you'd be into me or something. I thought you were making a joke._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: It was a joke, mostly. I wasn't sure back then. But I am now. Does it bother you?_

 _Frosty Soul: No, I just didn't expect it._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Cool. I haven't told the others yet, and I don't know if I'm going to. The guys take things differently. I was pretty sure you'd be fine with it. Kristoff and Anna probably wouldn't care either. It's more Micah that concerns me. You know how opinionated he is about stuff._

 _Frosty Soul: Kind of like you._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Yeah, I guess. I'm just not always negative about everything._

 _Frosty Soul: He isn't normally that way either. The whole thing with Jeremy and Amber really took its toll on him though. But he's getting better._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: For your sake, I hope so. So, do you guys have any plans now that that's out of the way?_

 _Frosty Soul: I think we're just going to pretend to be vegetables and do nothing. Maybe watch some movies or something. I'm honestly already drained from all of this and it's not even noon yet. I might take a nap._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Alright. Well, if you guys feel up to hanging out soon, let us know. We'll be here. Oh, and Elsa, be good to Micah. I know he royally screwed up, but the guy deserves all the love you can give him. I know I rag on him a lot, but he really is a sweet guy when he isn't acting insanely jealous._

 _Frosty Soul: I know. I think I'm gonna go love on him when I get off of here. He can really use it right now._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Okay, love. Take it easy. Go make that boy happy._

As soon as Elsa was off of the computer, she turned to see that Micah was hunched over with his head in his hands. He looked incredibly depressed. There was an ache in her heart for him, and she didn't quite know how to make it better. All she knew was that she had to try.

Standing up from her desk, she walked over to where he was sitting and slowly pushed him back onto the bed until he was laying down. Then she climbed on top of him, straddling his lap, and leaned down to kiss him. As their lips met, she ran a hand through his hair, then sighed.

"I'm so sorry about all of this, sweetheart," Elsa whispered into his ear. "I want to do whatever it takes to make it better for you."

"It's alright, Els," he replied. "It's my own fault. I brought this on myself."

"We'll get through this. You know that, right?"

"I hope so. The last thing I want is to lose you as soon as I have you."

"You're not going to lose me. I won't let that happen. I've been waiting far too long to let something like this get between us."

"I dunno, Els. This is a pretty big deal."

"But it's not going to drive me away. Nothing is. I am yours, Micah Aldrin. Someday, I'll show you just what that means," Elsa promised sweetly.

"I don't understand."

"Trust me. You will."

00000

The next couple of days were stressful. The gang decided to get together at Elsa's as usual, but they mostly talked about what the plan was if the test results came back claiming Micah was Chelsea's father. There was a consensus that he'd have to step up to the plate if that ended up being the case, and although Micah wasn't arguing, he didn't really feel that it was necessary. Besides, there was still the very real chance that Amber would prevent him from seeing the baby, although with the way she was acting at the clinic that might not be the case.

Amber seemed to think that things were perfectly fine between her and Micah. She also seemed to completely ignore the fact that he had broken up with her because of her infidelity throughout their relationship. He suspected that, on some level, Amber didn't believe it had happened. There were several instances of her sending him texts since the incident on Saturday, all asking about how his day was going and if he'd be by to see the baby. It was starting to get on his nerves, and he had to tell her several times to stop texting him. He even almost blocked her number, that is until Elsa reminded him that they needed to remain in contact until the test results returned. Micah couldn't figure out why that would matter any. The texts were getting annoying. The last couple he had received were almost to the point of obsession. In the end, he just turned his phone off and ignored it.

He had been staying at Elsa's every night since they had gotten together. For some reason he couldn't quite explain or figure out, Melissa and his mother had no problems with it. They didn't even care that he and Elsa were sleeping in the same bed together. But, just like Melissa had urged, his mother told him to make sure to use protection. Especially since they didn't want a repeat of what was happening with Amber. Elsa reassured them both that that would never happen.

Though they had only discussed it briefly, and not even seriously, Elsa was considering getting put on birth control pills just to be safe. No, they weren't sexually active, and she didn't know when they would be, but she knew it was going to eventually happen. That at some point they were going to give in to their desires and actually make love. That's how she wanted to look at it. What she had done with Jeremy was just sex; there was no emotion behind it. With Micah, it would be a completely different story. She was madly in love with him, and she was sure he was the same way. It would end up being far more than just raw sex. There would be substance to it. Passion.

Admittedly, it was hard to control the urges. Every night that they were alone together, it took every ounce of willpower to resist giving in. At least, that's how it was for her. She had no idea how it was for Micah. If it was anything like what she was going through, then Elsa knew that there was going to be an intense connection between them. They hadn't really made out or anything like that. Yes, they did cuddle a lot and kiss, but it was never more than on the lips, and even then it was usually brief. That's what they were content with.

It was almost two weeks later, on a Thursday after their visit to the clinic, and everyone was gathered at Elsa's as normal. They had all decided to stay there for the night so that they could leave early Friday morning for the beach. Everything they planned on taking was already packed into the back of the SUV, with the exception of the coolers and food. This year they were planning on taking Ellie, which Elsa was excited to do. She had always wanted a dog that she could take with them. Now, she had that opportunity. It was going to be a great trip as far she was concerned.

Friday morning they finished packing and were on the road by 9 am. Elsa had her 90's alternative rock and metal playlist going, and everyone was in a great mood. At least, for the most part. Micah was still stressed out about everything going on with Amber, and although Elsa was as well, she was trying not to let it ruin the trip. Unfortunately, her boyfriend wasn't doing so well with that. He was depressed, and didn't talk much the whole way. No matter how much she tried to get him into a conversation, he just shrugged things off and stared out the window. It frustrated her to no end, but she also completely understood why he was feeling the way he was.

About an hour into the drive, the car started having problems. They were on a long stretch of road with nothing there, and had to pull off to the shoulder as the car began smoking and making a horrible sound. Everyone let out a groan, and when Elsa popped the hood open, a cloud of black smoke came billowing out. It smelled like burning oil. When she and Micah got out and opened the hood up all the way, she could feel the heat coming off the engine block and hear a hissing sound coming from the radiator.

"Any idea what's wrong?" Micah asked as he looked over Elsa's shoulder.

"No, I'm not exactly an expert on car engines. I could take a guess, but it wouldn't be an educated one," she said.

"So now what?"

"I have to call my mom and see what she wants me to do. Give me a few minutes and I'll let you know what she says."

It didn't take long, and after roughly five minutes of talking to her mother, Elsa let out a heavy sigh when she got off of the phone, and gave Micah an apologetic look.

"She's going to call AAA and see if they can get someone out here," she said. "I told her where we are, so hopefully it won't take them very long. She said she'll call me back once she talks to them. For now, we just sit tight and wait."

"Okay, so, what do we do for now? Just sit in the car?"

"I guess so. I should probably let Ellie out in case she needs to go to the restroom. Why don't we have a better term for that for dogs? They don't go to the restroom, or potty, or any of those silly things we say about ourselves."

"I love it when you start overthinking things. It's kinda cute," Micah teased her.

Rolling her eyes and trying to ignore the look on his face, Elsa got back in the car and explained the situation to the others. There were more groans, but since there was nothing they could do they didn't complain too much. None of them were very knowledgeable about cars, so it made them even more reliant on someone else for help.

It took almost fifteen minutes for Elsa's mother to call her back, and when she did she actually had good news. AAA had an office only a few miles down the road, and would be there within half an hour. If the car needed to be towed, that's where they would be taken. She had already cleared with them that the repairs that might need to be done would be covered, and so she gave them the go ahead to do whatever they needed.

"So we have about thirty minutes before they get here. What do you guys want to do in the mean time?" Elsa asked.

"Well, I brought my sketch book so I'll just spend this time working on my new dragon drawing. I think you'll like it. It's kind of inspired by you," Rose said proudly.

"Inspired by me? What do you mean?"

"It's a white dragon, with blue eyes and a long white mane instead of frills and spines. I think you'll like it. It's still in the early stages though."

"Well, we don't have our laptops, so that kind of limits what we can do," Anna said remorsefully.

"Why would we bring our laptops to the beach?" Kristoff asked.

"That was kind of the point, Kris," Anna countered.

"Oh."

"I almost don't even want to go," Micah lamented.

"Please don't be like that, Micah," Elsa begged him. "This is supposed to be for your birthday. We're going to get the car fixed up, and then go have fun at the beach. There's no Amber for you to worry about for the next couple days."

"How can you possibly say that I don't have to worry? We don't know when the test results are going to come back, and my life might just become a living hell because of her. Like you guys have all been saying, there's a good chance that I'm the baby's father. Right now, I'm scared out of my god damn mind."

"Sweetheart, no one has said that there is a good chance of that happening. There is a chance, yes, but we never said it was good. With her history of sleeping around, the chance is still fairly low. Besides, I just want you to forget about her for the next three days. Please?"

"She's right, Micah," Anna said. "This is supposed to be a fun trip. Don't let that bitch ruin it for you."

"I'm trying," he said. "It's just that, no matter what I do, she's going to find a way to ruin my life."

"Micah, sweetie, you cannot let her get to you," Rose added. "There is nothing more she can do to ruin your life. When the test results come back, and they prove you aren't the father, then she has no more hold on you. Besides, she doesn't really have any control on you right now. So forget about her and just enjoy the time you have with us. It's summer. We're going to the beach. We're camping out like we have in the past. You get to share a tent with the woman you love for three whole days with no adult supervision. So cheer up. I hope you brought protection."

"Rose, I love you, but you're not helping with the jokes," Elsa warned her.

"It wasn't a joke. I'm being dead serious. If you two think I haven't noticed the sexual tension between you guys, then you are sorely mistaken. You guys seriously need to let it out some."

"Can we not talk about this? Please? Anna and Kristoff don't need to hear about our love life."

"Fine. We'll discuss it later."

"Do we have to?" Micah whined.

"I meant with Elsa. Unless you want to be involved. That's entirely up to you."

"Do I get a choice?"

"Yes," Elsa said.

"Not really," said Rose.

Micah didn't really say anything, he just groaned in exaggerated agony.

After what felt like an hour had passed, the AAA mechanic finally showed up with a tow truck and van. When he walked up to the car, Elsa and Micah got out to talk with him and show him under the hood what had happened. He knew right away what was wrong.

"You have a leak in your radiator, and the oil is low. Too low, actually. When was the last time you had your car serviced?" the man asked.

"Um, I think my mom took it to the shop a couple months ago for an oil change," Elsa told him.

"Well, I can tell just by lookin' at the dipstick that it's missin' a lot of oil. You're runnin' on fumes. Your engine is overheatin'. We can take it back to the shop and get you back on the road in a couple of hours tops, but it needs to be taken care of before your engine completely seizes up. You guys can all ride in the van. I'll get your vehicle hooked up to the tow truck and get it to the shop in no time."

"Okay. Thank you so much."

"No problem, miss."

The ride back to the shop was quiet, although with everyone crammed into the small van it was a little uncomfortable. Ellie was awkwardly sitting in Elsa's lap, crushing her under her massive size. Anna ended up sitting in Kristoff's lap, and it seemed like both of them were enjoying it a little too much. Luckily they didn't have far to go.

When they got to the shop, they pretty much had to wait outside because of Ellie. They mostly sat in silence as they watched the car get hauled into one of the bays of the garage. As soon as it was hoisted up by the lift, the mechanic was already removing the oil filter to drain the reservoir. It didn't look like much came out. After he checked out the radiator, he walked outside to talk with Elsa.

"Alright, so you were about three quarts low on your oil, and the stuff that did come out was black. It shouldn't look like that. Means it was getting way too hot. There should have been three and a half quarts, and you had less than half of a quart. The filter wasn't installed properly, which caused the oil to leak out, which explains that problem," he said.

"Okay. What about the radiator?" Elsa asked.

"It overheated and cracked on the bottom. So all your antifreeze leaked out. I can repair the crack, but it'll take a bit."

"That's fine. Just do what you need to do. My mother will cover the repair costs."

The gang ended up waiting nearly an hour while the mechanic welded the crack shut. Micah and Kristoff decided to watch while the man worked, finding it interesting for some silly reason. The girls were sitting on the ground against the outside of the building, with Ellie at Elsa's feet. It was hot out, in the low nineties, and they were doing their best to stay in the cool shade. Nobody was really talking. They just simply weren't in the mood.

After the mechanic was done and the car's fluids were topped off, and Melissa had made the payment, they were finally back on the freeway headed to Ocean Shores. They still had roughly an hour to go, so it was going to be a bit before they could feel the sand between their toes. But Elsa didn't mind. The car was fixed, so they were no longer stranded. Plus it was still early enough in the day that they weren't going to miss out on anything when they got there. So in all reality, things were still going to turn out to be pretty good. Plus, she had prepared for something extra, but she hadn't told Micah or Rose about it just yet. She wasn't even sure she'd be able to follow through with it. But, just in case, she took the necessary precautions anyway.

The rest of the ride was relatively peaceful. Micah had taken over driving, and that was fine by Elsa. She got to sit back, relax, and enjoy the countryside as it slipped by in a blur of green and brown. He was at least a decent driver. It made her feel pretty safe when he was behind the wheel. Not that her other friends couldn't drive. It was just that she was thankful that she could trust him with her vehicle. It was pretty nice not always being the one driving everywhere. Not that he ever did that too her.

Before they knew it, they had at last arrived at their destination. They even found their usual parking spot. As they unloaded the SUV, Elsa gave Micah the debit card and told him and Kristoff to get some firewood once they were settled in. If they were going to have a campout, they wanted to do it right this time. None of that scavenging for wood like they did the last couple of times. The boys didn't think to argue this time. When Elsa told them to do something, they did it. After watching her get angry a couple weeks ago, they had no desire to get on her bad side.

It didn't take long to get everything set up the way they wanted it. The tents were put up in record time, the coolers and fold-up chairs were placed right where everyone wanted them, and Ellie was excitedly hopping up and down just begging for Elsa to take her on a walk. So that's what the girls did while the boys were gone. They decided to walk down to where the large rocks jutted out into the water. The tide was currently low enough that they didn't have to worry about any waves coming in and splashing them.

"So, what's your plan, blondie?" Rose asked all of a sudden.

"What are you talking about?" Elsa countered.

"About you and Micah having a tent all to yourselves."

"Oh, I don't know. I hadn't really thought about it."

"Don't lie to me. I know full well you've thought about it. I can see it on your face."

"Yeah Elsa, it's pretty obvious you've got something on your mind," Anna added. "I won't tell mom either, I promise."

"I wasn't worried that you would," Elsa said. "It's just, I don't know what will happen. If anything. I haven't decided yet. But, just in case, I came prepared."

"Ooh, that's what I wanted to hear. So, how are you going to talk him into it?" Rose asked excitedly.

"Do you really need to know the details of my love life? Seriously?"

"I do if I'm going to help you any."

"Rose, you don't have any experience with sex. So I fail to see how you can possibly help me."

"You underestimate me, my dear friend. I happen to know a lot more than you give me credit for. Besides, have I been wrong about anything else I've helped you with?"

"Well, no..."

"Exactly," Rose said. "So, let's hear what your plan is."

"Anna does not need to know this stuff."

"Maybe I want to help too," Anna said. "Besides, I'm going to need to know some of this stuff eventually anyway."

"Anna, you're only fourteen."

"So? I want to know. I have my reasons."

"Wait, are you and Kristoff dating?" Elsa asked.

"...Maybe."

"When did that happen?" Rose and Elsa asked in unison.

"At the start of summer. Please don't tell mom yet!" Anna begged. "We don't want anyone knowing until I'm in high school."

"Well, the only person that doesn't know is Micah," Elsa said. "Unless Kristoff has told him."

"He might have. I didn't tell him not to."

"Okay, well, I guess I can't stop you. And to be honest, I kind of expected it. I suspected a while ago when you guys started hanging out a lot. But I was wrong on the timing. You guys haven't...done anything, have you?"

"Not yet. We've kind of been waiting a little bit before we go there. But we have discussed it. Not, like, seriously. But it's been brought up."

"I guess I don't have much room to talk. Just please be safe about it."

"I will be."

"Okay, now that that is out of the way, what's your plan?" Rose asked again, turning her attention back to Elsa.

"I don't really have a plan," Elsa said. "Like I said, I didn't really think it through. I just thought it might be a possibility, so I brought protection. I knew he wouldn't have, not with everything on his mind."

"Okay, so are you going to try and seduce him?"

"Am I going to what?"

"Seduce him, Elsa. You know, use your feminine wiles on him."

"I have no idea what that even means."

"Jesus Christ, Elsa, you are far too innocent sometimes. I mean, do you know how to act sexy for him? Make him hot and bothered? You know, shake of your hips, rubbing up against him, tease him...that sort of thing."

"Oh. _Oh._ Um, I don't know. I never had to before."

"Do you have anything sexy to wear? Like lingerie?"

"Um, actually, I sort of bought something the other day. It was really awkward, and I had to lie about my age, but I might have gone to one of those adult shops and bought something."

"Oh my god, Els. Right on! I didn't know you had it in you. Lying and buying sex stuff. I'm impressed. Bad girl Elsa is kinda cool and hot at the same time."

"Wait, what?" Anna asked, confused.

"Oh, I forgot, you don't know yet. I'm bi, and I think your sister is super hot."

"...Oh. Well, that was completely unexpected. I had no idea."

"Yeah, neither did I until this last year. Anyway, don't tell the boys just yet. I don't know how they'd handle it."

"Does this mean you have a crush on Elsa?"

"That is irrelevant."

"So, yes."

"I'm not dignifying that with a response."

"Can we get back to the topic at hand here?" Elsa interrupted. "I'm not even sure why I want to though."

Ellie was starting to get a little impatient and began to whine. Luckily, Elsa remembered to bring her frisbee. Throwing the thing as strait as she could without landing it in the water, Ellie took off after it like a bullet.

"Alright, sorry. So what did you get?" Rose asked.

"Well, it's, uh, this white lacy thing with some sexy underwear, and it's kind of see-through," Elsa said with a blush.

"That is awesome. I totally want to see it when we get back. I hope your taking notes, kid."

"Don't call me that," Anna said.

"I don't know, Rose," Elsa said nervously. "I mean, I'm already embarrassed about it as it is. I don't even know how I'm going to put it on for him without him seeing me."

"Just wear your regular clothes over it," Rose suggested.

"Yeah, I guess I can do that. I don't know, now I'm all nervous. What if he doesn't like it? What if I look stupid in it? I don't even know how to be 'sexy', so I'll probably mess up."

"Girl, I am telling you now, that you being sexy will come naturally to you when the time comes. It's all part of the mating instinct. Everyone has it. You do too. Besides, you've seen plenty of movies and crap on TV. Just try and do what you've seen. But I can promise you, Micah probably won't care all that much. As soon as he sees you in that outfit, he'll be ready to go to town. You have a hot bod, and you do things that are sexy whether you realize it or not."

"What do you mean? What do I do that can possibly be considered sexy?" Elsa asked.

"The way you bite your bottom lip when you're thinking really hard about something, or you're nervous and waiting patiently for things to be over with. That lopsided smile of yours. Hell, the makeup I've seen you wear. The natural sway of your hips. You have all the right curves, girl. Use them to your advantage."

"I...I have no idea what to say to any of that. I mean, what are the odds that Micah thinks that way about me?"

Instead of threatening her, Rose actually smacked Elsa up the side of the head, causing the girl to yelp in surprise. "Of course he does, dumbass! Why do you think he's attracted to you? I mean, seriously Elsa. Use your damn head. The boy has been waiting desperately to be with you his whole life. What do you think he's been thinking about you the entire time? I can guarantee you he's had very similar thoughts to mine."

"Yeah, Els. Micah is super attracted to you," Anna added. "I can tell just by the way he looks at you. I've caught him staring at you plenty of times when you weren't looking. He really likes to do it when you bend over."

"Okay, enough of that, Anna. Thanks," Elsa said quickly. "But, maybe you guys are right. Maybe he does think that way. But I don't know for sure."

"Don't make me hit you again, blondie," Rose threatened.

After a couple minutes of sitting there patiently, Ellie started whimpering with the frisbee hanging loosely out of her mouth. This reminded Elsa that she was supposed to be playing with her dog, so she took the frisbee and tossed it again, watching Ellie take off after it.

"Look, I can't promise anything is going to happen. Even if it does, it's not really anyone's business but mine and Micah's. Besides, I want our first time to be special."

"So do I, sweetie. That's why I'm trying to help you. Your first time with Micah needs to be magical. That's partly why I demanded the tents be spread out the way they are. I'm in the middle so short shit here and the mountain man aren't right next to you listening to you guys get it on."

"No, instead you're next to us listening."

"My tent isn't that close. And even if it was, I'd be cheering you on rather than getting disgusted by it," Rose said nonchalantly.

"I don't think I need a spectator," Elsa said.

"Oh sure you do. What you don't know is I've had a hidden camera installed, so I can watch your every move. I've also got an earpiece I want you to wear so I can give you tips while you're doing the dirty de – Ow!"

Elsa had punched her in the arm, but not nearly as hard as Rose pretended it was. Then she sighed and rolled her eyes at her friend, then made sure to throw the frisbee for Ellie one more time.

"You frustrate me sometimes. But that's okay, I still love you. For some damn reason."

"If you punch like that when your not pissed, I'm afraid to see what it's like when you are."

"The only person that will ever find that out is Amber if she keeps up with the bullshit she's been pulling. Or Jeremy if I ever have to see him again," Elsa declared.

"Let's not talk about them. We're talking about sexy time here. Do you know about the reverse cowgirl?"

"I don't think I want to know what that is."

"Oh sure you do. Here, I'll show you," Rose said as she pulled out her phone.

Although she would never admit it, Elsa was rather curious as to what her friend was talking about. It only took a couple seconds for her to realize that that might have been a mistake.

"Rose, what the hell is this?"

"Oh, it's an app I got on all the different sex positions from both the Kama Sutra and some new age stuff. _This_ one is the reverse cowgirl. Now, you can imagine what the regular cowgirl is, right? Then there is this one, where you're facing him while sitting on his lap. See? There's a bunch of stuff. Here, take a look."

Handing her phone over to Elsa, Rose smirks as the blonde starts scrolling through the different pictures. Elsa's cheeks turn bright red, but she doesn't stop. She even hums to herself a few times. Before either of them know it, Elsa has her phone out and starts downloading the app onto it.

"That was more interesting than I thought it would be. It, um, might come in handy. Maybe. I don't know."

"Don't be so nervous or embarrassed. Geez. It's just sex. Everyone does it at some point in their life. You might as well make it fun."

"Okay. I'll try," Elsa promised. "But I can't guarantee we'll do anything. I'm still incredibly nervous of the idea. I mean, I was nervous when I had sex with Jeremy. I didn't even enjoy it then. What if I don't enjoy it this time too? It could ruin our relationship."

"Elsa, you need to stop worrying about that. You didn't love Jeremy, and from what you've told me, he had no damn idea what he was doing. Besides, this is Micah we're talking about. You have the hots for that boy, and have for a very long time. Your body will make sure it feels the way it's meant to."

"I certainly hope you're right. The last thing I want to do is ruin our special night together."

"Trust me. Everything will be just fine," Rose promised.


	27. Chapter 27 - Euphoria

**A/N: "Holy shit, Nick! What the hell is this? It's Thursday you crazy bastard!"**

 **Yes, I know. I'm a day early, but for good reason. Something came up and I am busy this weekend, and I didn't want to make you guys wait until next Friday for today's lovely chapter. Which is good, because I have a couple things to say.**

 **Number one, I am nervous as hell about this chapter, because I have no idea how well it will be received. I've never written anything like this before, so I'm kinda scared to see what happens. Sorry. With that said, I also have no idea if I need to put up a warning of any kind. So, this is it. There is adult content ahead, but I did my best to make it as tasteful as I could. Hopefully I did alright.**

 **Number two, I have a confession to make. I know I have up through chapters 41 written, and that still gives me ample time to write more, but I am currently suffering writer's block in a big way. The sad thing is, it's over a few details. Not even super major stuff either. More like "should I do this or this" type scenario with a few things. I'd ask for your help, but then that would be major spoilers and I don't want to do that to you guys. You deserve better.**

 **Finally, I want to thank all you guys that have supported me up to this point. Your views, reviews, favorites and follows all mean a ton to me. I honestly never would have guess anyone would find my writing all that good, especially in a genre that is utterly new to me. But I want you all to know I've taken all the feedback, the good and the bad, and have tried to use it to write as good a story as I can. I've done the best I can with creating these characters, and I've grown fond of all of them. Except for Jeremy and Amber. Because they are douches. But even douches need some love, right?**

 **Anyway, enough from me. Enjoy.**

 **Chapter 27**

 _Euphoria_

"Oh my god, Elsa! This is sexy as hell!" Rose declared loudly.

They were back at camp, sitting inside Elsa's flimsy tent going through her things. She was showing off the lingerie she had bought a few days ago, and it made Rose and Anna excited for some strange reason. Rose she could understand, but having her sister congratulate her and find it amazing was very bizarre. Elsa just hoped that she wasn't giving Anna any bad ideas.

"You don't have to be so loud. The boys will be back any minute," Elsa said quietly.

"Oh please. Like either of them would know what we're talking about," Rose said dismissively.

"Elsa, I'm afraid to ask, but how much was this? And what will mom say when she finds out?" Anna asked.

"Mom was actually kind of the one who suggested it..." Elsa replied, her cheeks burning red.

"What!?" Rose and Anna exclaimed together.

"Your mom is pretty damn cool," said Rose. "My parents are kinda cool, but they're not _that_ cool."

"My mom has been doing everything she can to embarrass the hell out of me in front of Micah. But she told me that he would love something like this. So, I kind of just went and did it. I hope he does, even if I'm way too scared to go through with it."

"Oh, you're going through with it. I'm forcing you to. With this sexy little thong and that lacy top, he won't be able to keep his hands off of you."

"I guess. I might wait until we're home and have some real privacy though," Elsa said as she started to shove her clothes back into her bag. "It'd be awkward out here anyway."

"I don't think so. I mean, you have plenty of privacy here."

"I'll make sure Kristoff and I give you plenty of space too," Anna added.

"Why are you guys making such a big deal out of this?" Elsa asked, frustrated. "I said I want our first time to be special. I don't even know if inside a tent on the beach with your friends only a few feet away counts as romantic or special."

"Look, if you really aren't comfortable with it, then you don't have to go through with it," Rose said. "But I want you to know that we support your decision either way. I just think that you desperately need this. I mean, Jeremy was a total letdown, and you hated it with him. Sex isn't supposed to be like that. It's supposed to be meaningful, and feel good. If it doesn't, then something is wrong. I'm willing to bet that Micah does something to you. Like, he drives you crazy, but in a very good way, right?"

"...Yes," Elsa admitted. "It's impossible to describe, but I do feel something - a very good something - when I'm with him. Especially when he's holding me and it's just the two of us. I never felt it with Jeremy. To be honest, he kind of repulsed me. Micah is the exact opposite. He does something to me that I can't explain."

"And that is exactly what I'm talking about. I could have put it into words that you wouldn't have liked, but I'll keep it PG so I don't embarrass you."

"Thanks."

"I know neither of you want to hear it, but it kind of feels that way with Kristoff. I don't know what it is, but I feel good. But we haven't really done much other than hold hands and kiss," Anna admitted. She didn't seem to get nervous or embarrassed like Elsa did.

"French kissing or just regular on the lips?" Rose asked.

"Um, just regular kissing. I wouldn't know how to do the other one."

"What about you blondie?"

"I don't really know what French kissing is all about. I mean, Jeremy tried it on me a few times, and I hated it. But then again, I hated kissing him," Elsa said as if she had a foul taste in her mouth.

"Yeah, well, I'm willing to bet you'll like it with Micah. All the stuff that you tried with Jeremy should be completely different with your new boyfriend. You actually love Micah. That right there makes a huge difference."

Elsa was still debating the whole thing in her head. The problem was that she didn't know if they needed to wait longer before they went through with it or not. It would be a lie to say she had never dreamt of making love to Micah. She honestly had thought about it many times. But she still wanted it to be very special and meaningful. She didn't want it to be quick and over with right away, and she wanted it to feel good. That was something she was sure would happen. Prayed it would. She just didn't know if going through with it on the beach with her friends and sister present would be a good idea. If it were just her and Micah, that'd be completely different.

When the boys returned with the firewood, they also brought a couple pizzas from one of the pizzerias in town. Elsa and the others had to help them unload some of the wood from the back of the car, and then helped devour the piping hot deliciousness that they had brought back. As they ate, Elsa made sure that Ellie got a slice as well, even though she knew full well that the dog wasn't supposed to have any human food. But right then, she didn't care much. She loved spoiling her furry companion as much as she could.

After stuffing their faces full, they decided to take turns playing fetch with Ellie and just playing around in the sand. The weather was beautiful and warm, and it was barely 1:30 pm. The hottest part of the day had yet to come. The water was still chilly, as it always was in the Pacific Northwest, but it was still manageable. The girls had put on their bikinis due to the heat, and the guys were running around shirtless. Elsa had to fight like hell not to stare at Micah. Every time she did, either he or Rose would catch her, and she'd blush a deep crimson and quickly look away. Rose loved to give her a hard time about it, and Micah just grinned mischievously.

At some point, she wasn't sure when, Elsa had a missed call from an unknown number. There was a voicemail, but she chose to ignore it for the time being. Instead, she chose to go on a nice and quiet walk with Micah down the beach, away from the others. They didn't really say much, but then they didn't need to. They simply held hands and just wandered. It was sort of romantic in a way.

"What's on your mind, Els?" Micah asked, breaking the silence.

"Not a lot. Just some things that I haven't really figured out yet," she replied.

"Like what?"

"Oh, nothing you'd be interested in."

"Try me," he said with interest.

Sighing, Elsa shot him a quick glance before returning her gaze to where they were walking. "I want this weekend to be romantic and fun. I've been having a hard time deciding if I want to follow through with something I was considering doing. I just don't know what to do about it. There doesn't seem to be a good answer, and no matter how much I think it through, I keep getting stuck on making a decision."

"What is it you're having trouble with?"

"I can't tell you. This time it has to remain a secret."

"Elsa, you promised you wouldn't do that to me anymore," Micah reminded her.

"I know. But this time it's something good. It's supposed to be a surprise. The problem is I don't know if I can follow through with it or not," Elsa said.

"That isn't fair."

"Too bad. I am not telling you. If I do that, it will ruin the surprise."

"But you don't even know if you're going to do it. So I may never know what it is."

"Not true. I intend to follow through with it at some point. I just don't know if it will be here or at home," Elsa said teasingly. "But I promise that, when I do, you'll love it."

"You frustrate me," Micah said with a grin.

"I know. But it's so much fun."

They continued to walk quite a ways away from the camp, not really caring how far they went. Eventually, they came to a rocky outcropping that jutted out a decent distance into the water and they decided to climb it and sit at the edge to just stare out across the ocean. It was cold, but it was still pretty. The way the sunlight reflected off the navy blue surface was almost hypnotic. As they sat there, Micah wrapped his arm around Elsa, and she leaned into him, not taking her eyes off the horizon.

"You know where I've always wanted to visit?" Elsa asked dreamily.

"No. I don't think we've ever discussed that before," Micah responded.

"Hawaii," she said. "I want to go swim with the dolphins and sea turtles. I want to go snorkeling and see the reefs. I want to lay on the beach and really enjoy the sun and the sound of the waves. I want to swim in the beautiful waters there. Explore the cities and try the different foods. Enjoy the culture. It's something I really have to experience at least once."

"Huh. I had no idea. You've never told me that before. I would love to do that with you. But I bet it's expensive."

"It is," Elsa admitted. "It's a few thousand dollars for round trip tickets and a hotel just for a few days. I've looked into it, and it's something I really want to do. Unfortunately, it's too much money for us. Our parents don't make that kind of money. I mean, my mom's business makes good money, but she has to make the house payment and all the other bills. Without my dad's income, things are a bit tighter than they used to be. We still manage pretty well, but I just don't know. Sadly, I know your mother makes good money too, but not that kind of money. I don't know how we would do it."

"I dunno how I'll do it, but I promise you that I will take you there one day," Micah promised. "I want that to be our goal. We can save up whatever money we get, and instead of wasting it on games or whatever we normally spend it on, we put it away in a savings account and just keep it there. I know it'll take time, but if we both get summer jobs it would at least be a start. In fact, I can start looking for a job as soon as we get home if you want."

"Micah, sweetheart, I'm not worried about that. We'll do it when we have a better foothold on our lives. Maybe once we graduate from college and we get our careers started we can save up. I think that would be the smartest decision."

"Okay. Well, we'll figure it out somehow. But it's definitely something we have to do together."

This made Elsa smile, and she rested her head on his shoulder as they just watched the waves roll in and crash upon the shore. The sound was soothing, and the view was captivating. They didn't know how long they sat there, and they honestly didn't care. Elsa had never felt more loved and happy in her entire life. Being there with Micah's arm wrapped around her slender waist was a dream come true. There was no better feeling than that.

00000

That evening, the firepit was blazing as the flames licked at the nighttime air. The boys had bought some marshmallows and skewers so everyone could roast them until they were molten goo. Roasted marshmallows was one of Anna's favorite treats, but she also had a tendency to get it all over her face. She didn't mind really. Kristoff watched and grinned at her, and would occasionally scrape some of the sweetened goo from her face with his massive finger. It was goofy and cute, at least as far as the girls were concerned. Once again, Elsa fed a few marshmallows to Ellie, knowing full well that it was bad for her. But her companion had behaved very well, and was so good to her that she had to spoil the dog. With a good scratch behind the ears, Ellie was content with laying down next to her and eating the few treats that Elsa fed her.

They sat around the fire and just laughed at the stories they retold of things that had happened in the past six years they've been friends. A lot of it was funny in retrospect, and even more of the stories caused them to groan in agony or roll their eyes. A few turned out to be embarrassing. They all made sure to avoid bringing up anything that was connected to Elsa's past. They knew it was a very touchy and scary subject, and they didn't want to trigger any kind of emotional breakdown for her. Everyone knew better than that. Not even Micah talked about it with her. They all felt it was best to leave it in the past and let her move on from it. Not even a mention of her father. As far as she was aware, he was still in prison, and there he would stay for quite some time.

When the fire began to die, and the hour grew late, everyone decided to retire to their tents for the evening. Anna was sharing a tent with Kristoff, and Rose had one all to herself. Elsa and Micah had to share theirs with Ellie, but she was content with laying at their feet rather than in between them. This made them both happy as it made it much easier for them to cuddle.

Once they were situated in their sleeping bags, which they had joined together with the zippers to make one massive bedroll, they wrapped their arms around each other in an intimate embrace, and Elsa rested her head in the crook of Micah's neck. She enjoyed it a great deal, as it made her feel safe from any sort of harm. There was no reason for her to think that way, but that's how it made her feel nonetheless. He was her armor.

"I don't know if I will ever get over this feeling," she said quietly.

"Yeah, what feeling is that?" he asked.

"Being in your arms and feeling as safe as I do. I know you'll never hurt me, not like Jeremy did."

"Sweetheart, I would never hurt you," Micah said sweetly. "Ever. I've done nothing but try to protect you my whole life. You have absolutely nothing to fear with me."

"I know. That's why I feel so safe with you. I never have to worry," Elsa said.

"Do you remember when we were little, and I always had to chase Marshall away?"

"Yes. You were my hero even back then."

"I would do it again if I had to. But I wonder what happened to him. He didn't really do anything to us in middle school."

"Who knows. Hopefully he grew up and stopped being such an ass."

Micah was running a hand through her hair and slightly down her back, trying to comfort her as much as he could. "Yeah. Little did he know that we would still be friends to this day, and actually be in such a loving relationship. It is, right?"

"Of course it's a loving relationship, Micah," Elsa said with a smile. "It is for me anyway. I've never loved someone more than I love you."

Rolling over onto his side, Micah propped his head up on his hand and grinned. "Well, that's good to hear. I've done the best I know how to shower you with love. I know this week has been stressful, what with Amber and her bullshit, but I've been trying really hard to not think about her. It's sort of been working too. I mean, all I've thought about since we've been here is you."

"That's pretty much how it's been for me as well. But, I haven't been able to get you off my mind for a long time. Years, in fact. I told you I've loved you since we were in sixth grade. I knew for certain at camp. You terrified me when you fell in the lake, Micah. You have no idea what was running through my head when I dove in after you."

"Yeah, I told you I'm sorry a million times already. But I suppose once more wouldn't hurt. I'm really, truly, very sorry for being a complete moron and falling in. You know, I still haven't learned how to swim."

"I know, which still terrifies me. How are we ever going to go to Hawaii and enjoy it if you can't swim?" she asked teasingly.

"I'll learn before then, okay? I still have what? Six years at least?"

Elsa giggled a little as she scooted closer so she could give him a kiss. "We have a while, yes. But even then, we're going to have to work for a bit after college in order to save up."

"Yeah, right. I almost forgot about that. With your degree and career, you'll be making fairly good money, right? I know I'll make decent wages once I get on with a company that treats its employees well. Maybe I'll apply for Microsoft or something."

"I think we talked about this already, but therapists don't make nearly as much money as you would like to think," Elsa said. "But, I'm not really doing it for the money. I'm doing it so I can help people."

"This is exactly why you're such a good person. You have a big heart," Micah told her.

They fell quiet and just laid there for a while, not really needing to say much. Elsa had a grip on Micah's shirt, holding onto it out of comfort and habit. He was still running his hand through her snowy, silky smooth hair. Whenever he had a chance, he would lean down just enough so he could place a kiss on the top of her head. Each time she would feel this warm tingle wash over her. She couldn't explain it, but it was thrilling.

"Micah, you don't know what you're doing to me," she cooed. "Your kisses, as silly as it sounds, make me feel so happy and good. Like I'm important and matter to you."

Lifting her chin up with his hand, Micah gave her a smile that she could only describe as dreamy. "That's because you are, baby. You are everything to me. You always have been. It nearly killed me when we weren't talking to each other. I missed you so much. It was entirely my fault. I regretted it every day. I was miserable without you in my life. But I wanted to be angry at you for being with Jeremy. That's the only reason I did what I did. It was a horrible reason too."

"Don't worry about it anymore. It's in the past. We're here now, and it's just me and you. Right now, nothing else exists."

"You are so amazing, Elsa. You're so beautiful," he began to say as he ran his hand down the length of her body, paying close attention to the curves of her hips. "I wish I could tell you just how beautiful you are. Your eyes are probably one of my favorite parts about you. They're like these deep, turquoise pools that I can just get lost in. Your hair is like silk, and I love the color. It's this silvery, platinum blonde, almost white. I love it. It's so unique. I love that smirk of yours that you do whenever you are thinking of something wicked or mischievous. Even the way you bite your bottom lip when you're lost in thought or scared. It's adorable. There really isn't a part about you that I don't just adore."

"Damn it," Elsa said as she wiped away some tears from her eyes. "Why do I always get so emotional when you talk to me like that? Nobody else has ever made me feel this way before. I think this is what true love and happiness is."

Lifting her head up to meet his, Elsa placed a very tender kiss on his lips and smiled. Then she went in for another kiss, a deeper, more intimate kiss. Their mouths connected and their tongues danced together slowly yet hungrily. Their breathing slowly became heavy, but soon they had to release one another to catch their breaths.

"Elsa, I don't know what to say. That was the most amazing kiss. It never felt like that with Amber," Micah said.

Breathing heavily, Elsa had that dreamy look in her eyes that told him that she wanted more. "I've never experienced that before. But it was wonderful. I want more. I need it. Please?" she begged.

"Gladly."

Once more their lips met, and they began kissing as passionately as before. Their breaths were hot, and their embrace tightened. Soon enough, Elsa found herself laying beneath him. She decided she was right where she wanted to be.

"Okay, that was amazing," Elsa said breathlessly. "Like, take my breath away amazing."

"Yeah? Well, I hope I can take your breath away one more time," Micah said with a grin.

Elsa grabbed his head and pulled it back down so she could kiss him once more, then ran her hands down the length of his chest. Micah began kissing her on her pallid cheeks and worked his way down to her ear, then lower to the pale skin of her neck, causing her to moan in pleasure. Then he worked his way even further, down to just above the collarbone where he chose to leave his mark.

Her arms wrapped themselves around the back of his neck, then worked their way down his back before gripping tight. Lightly clawing his back, Elsa began to groan, begging him to return to her lips and kiss her. As he worked his way back up her neck and chin, she bit her bottom lip and lightly rolled her head backwards to give him as much space as he needed. He would lightly nip at her every now and then, and that would do something to her that she couldn't quite explain.

When he finally returned to kiss her lightly, she guided his hand a little lower to her breasts and showed him exactly what she wanted. He ran his fingers lightly over her curves, drawing out another moan of pleasure from the woman he loved. Then, she placed her hands on the sides of his head and forced him down to smash their lips together once more, then deepening the kiss as their lips parted, sliding their tongues together as if it were some sort of waltz.

"Micah, sweetheart, I want to show you just how much I love you," she said nervously. "It's just that, well, I'm afraid."

"What are you afraid of, baby?" he asked. "It's just you and me. You know I won't say or do anything that you aren't completely comfortable with."

Elsa's eyes looked away from him and closed as if she was ashamed. "I'm afraid that I'll do something wrong. I mean, I never got to experience it properly with Jeremy. I never learned what to do or how to do it. God, I wish he wasn't my first. I always wanted it to be you."

"Elsa, you don't need to worry about that," Micah assured her. "I never really learned what to do with Amber either. So, if you want to, we can just start fresh and learn together as we go."

"I would really like that," Elsa said with a loving smile. "But I'm still nervous."

"So am I," Micah replied as he rested his forehead on hers. "We don't have to go any further if you don't want to. We can stop here. I'd be perfectly fine with that."

"That's just it, I don't want to stop. I'm just nervous that I won't be as good as you hope I will be."

"I don't think that's a possibility."

Micah began to work his way back down towards her chest, and Elsa timidly undid her bikini top. Soon he was busying himself with her exposed chest, and it was driving her crazy. She ran a hand through his light, caramel brown hair. Once she couldn't take it any more, she reached for her purse and fished around for something, then pulled out a condom packet and handed it to him.

"You came prepared. You must've been planning this before we left," he teased.

"The last few days. I have another surprise for you, but that one will have to wait until we get home. But, I am ready if you are. I mean, I'm incredibly nervous, but I want this Micah. I have for a long time."

"Elsa, are you absolutely sure about this?" Micah asked as he raised himself above her.

"Yes. I've never been more sure in my life," she replied.

"You are so beautiful, you know that?"

 _"_ _V_ _ous êtes ma vie et mon tout."_

Grinning, Micah leaned back down in order to give Elsa another kiss. "I have no idea what you just said, but I'll assume it was something good."

Finally, he positioned himself just above her before being guided in, then slowly began to work on finding a smooth rhythm. It was timid and gentle at first, but it still earned him sounds of pleasure from Elsa. As he saw that she was enjoying what he was doing, the pace slowly began to pick up, and she moaned even louder, though she did the best she could to silence herself. This only caused Micah to smile and work even harder. The rhythm became faster, and she was digging her fingers into his back, but gently. Wrapping her legs around his waist, she started to meet his rhythm with her own. This drove them both wild.

Things became more and more heated, with heavy breathing and moans of pleasure and ecstasy. As she got close to the edge, Elsa began to arch her back and grabbed up a bunch of the sleeping bag in her hands while she clawed at the ground. When she was pushed over, she nearly cried out loud as she began to shudder. But Micah didn't stop. He only went faster as he too was about to reach his climax, and when he did, he nearly fell on her and shook. Once they both had recovered, they began to kiss passionately between each strained breath. They were both shaky and lightly perspiring, but they didn't care.

After a time, they laid and held each other, both lost in their own thoughts. They were both euphoric, and Elsa a little bit giggly. She laid her head down on his chest and draped an arm across, and got as close to him as she could. Micah softly ran his hand through her hair and contentedly sighed.

"What's on your mind?" he asked her after a bit.

"I've never been happier or felt so good. I'm actually at peace," she replied.

"Yeah, me too actually. You don't regret it?"

"Absolutely not," Elsa told him adamantly.

"Good. I'd feel bad if you did. I did the best I could."

"You were perfect. I don't want you to worry about that. It was amazing. I had no idea it could feel that way."

"Me neither. How are you feeling?" Micah asked.

"I feel great. I'm a little tired now though. You?"

"I'm pretty exhausted too. I don't know what time it is, but it's got to be late."

Stretching her arm back behind her, Elsa felt around for her phone. When she found it, she turned the screen on to look at the time. "It's 1:30 am. We should probably get some sleep. Just let me check this voicemail real quick and we can get to bed."

Navigating through the menu to call her voicemail box, Elsa dialed it up and ran through the automated system before being allowed to actually listen to the message. Once it actually played the thing, Elsa's mood fell.

 _"You are going to regret what you did to me, bitch."_

"Oh god, no. No no no no," Elsa whimpered.

"What is it, babe?" Micah asked with concern.

"It's Jeremy. He just threatened me," she said quietly.

"What? Let me listen."

She replayed the message for him, and Micah grew visibly upset. Clenching his jaw, he looked incredibly angry.

"That son of a bitch," he said angrily.

"What are we going to do?" Elsa asked, panicking.

"For now, nothing. He doesn't know we're here. So for the next couple of days, we forget about it. We'll deal with it Sunday when we get home."

"Okay. I am so sorry about this."

"Don't be. It's not your fault that he's an asshole. Let's just get some rest. Come on."

Elsa laid back down on Micah's chest and curled up next to him. Her sense of euphoria had evaporated with the content of that message. That night, she grew weary, but was far too afraid to fall asleep.

00000

The next morning took a long time to arrive for Elsa. She barely got any sleep, having passed out for only roughly forty minutes in short bursts all night. By the time the sun rose, her face was numb and her eyes burned. As soon as he was awake Micah noticed just how bad off she really was. Normally she would sleep the whole night with him nightmare-free. But the voicemail she got scared the hell out of her, and it kept replaying itself in her head. He did his best to comfort her, and she greatly appreciated it, but it did little to calm her thoughts.

It took her longer than usual to climb out of the covers and dress herself. Elsa wasn't ready to face the day, not after the night she had. But she knew she'd have to, at least for Ellie if nothing else. Although she knew that Micah and the others would be more than willing to play with Ellie and keep an eye on her while Elsa rested, she couldn't bring herself to do that to them. Her dog wasn't their responsibility.

Throwing on some shorts and a tank top, Elsa eventually emerged from the comfort of her tent into the blinding light of the early morning sun. When the others saw how tired she was, they kept their voices down and tried to make her feel better. Rose gave her a smirk telling her that she knew what had happened, but Elsa ignored it. She wasn't in the greatest of moods, even though she should be over the moon with delight after the passion she experienced before going to bed. She noticed that Micah wasn't doing much better, though he at least was able to sleep.

After breakfast, Rose pulled Elsa aside so they could talk. They walked a little bit away from the camp, just far enough to be out of earshot of the others. She shot several glances back towards the tents before turning her attention to her friend.

"So, how'd it go?" Rose asked excitedly.

"How did what go?" Elsa said.

"I heard you two last night. I know what you did. I want details girl! So spit it out."

"Rose, right now is not the best time. Maybe when we get home or something."

"Oh no, you're not getting out of it that easily. At least tell me how it was."

"Okay. It was... amazing," Elsa said honestly. "I've never felt anything like it. I didn't know making love could feel that way. It was everything I had hoped it would be and more. There was no pain, and it wasn't over in two minutes. I don't know how long it lasted, to be honest. But I loved it, and now I want more."

"Well, I can see by the mark he left below your neck that it was pretty enjoyable to say the least," Rose said with a grin.

"Oh shit! I forgot all about it! How noticeable is it?" Elsa asked in a panic.

"Sweetie, you have a giant red hickey on your collarbone. It's in plain view. But I think you should wear it like a badge of pride and honor. To hell what other people might say. I can promise you Kristoff and Anna won't care."

"No, I suppose not."

"What's wrong, Els? I can see that something is eating at you. Talk to me. What's up?" Rose asked.

Elsa nervously looked up and down the beach as if she were expecting trouble or someone to overhear her conversation. "I got a voicemail last night from an unknown number. Turns out, it was Jeremy."

"What."

"Jeremy is apparently out of jail and is already harassing me. There's supposed to be a restraining order on him, but that apparently doesn't matter to him."

"That son of a bitch. So, what're you gonna do?"

"What can I do?"

"Well, for starters you keep that voicemail and call the police," Rose told her. "You have proof that he's the one that left it. So, when we get home tomorrow afternoon, you call them and report this. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, I think so. But why is he doing this to me?" Elsa asked.

"Because he's a god damn egocentric bastard. He doesn't give a shit about you. I think what he wants is to control you any way he can. So don't let him do that. Don't show him any fear. Stand up to the prick and see to it that he learns his lesson. Or have Micah and Kristoff kick his ass. That works too."

"I don't know, Rose. I mean, he doesn't care what happens to him, as long as I'm affected by his actions somehow. I think there is something mentally wrong with him."

"Of course there is," Rose said. "The asshole beat the hell out of you to control you. He raped you to show you he's more powerful than you. There is nothing he hasn't done that didn't have some sort of self-centered nonsense attached to it. It's all a power play to him. He needs to control you so he feels like the bigger and stronger person. Now that he doesn't have you in his grasp, he's doing his best to torment you. Don't let him do that. If you cave to this bullshit, he wins."

"Okay. I'll do my best," Elsa promised. "But you know I'm not very good at this stuff. I mean, the last time I saw him, I tried my best to be strong in front of him and to tell him off. Then he slapped the shit out of me in front of a whole crowd of people. He doesn't care. That's the second time he's flipped out in public. If he's willing to do that in front of a bunch of people, just imagine what he'll do when it's just us."

"It's never going to be just you two. I forbid you from seeing him ever again. Do you hear me? I will not sit by idly and watch you make the same god damn mistake over and over. He's going to go too far at some point, and it might kill you. Neither you or Micah deserve that."

"I know. I swear, I'm not going to ever see him or go near him willingly ever again. If I ever have to deal with him, it's going to be either through the police or Micah and Kristoff. Either one could win in a fight, and I know both are willing to fight for me. Micah desperately wants to put an end to Jeremy permanently. I don't know if I can let him do that, but it's very tempting."

"Speaking of Micah, how is he taking this?" Rose asked with a glance back towards the camp.

"He's not taking it all that well, but better than me," Elsa said sadly. "I didn't want this to happen to him, especially right after we made love. The mood went from euphoric to melancholic in the blink of an eye. I couldn't sleep all night. I was scared to close my eyes."

"Then I suggest you go lie down and get some rest. We'll look after your puppy. The last thing I want you to do is be cranky all day and start a fight with Micah out of irritability. That's an order. I'm not giving you a choice."

"But-"

"No buts. Come on."

Grabbing Elsa by the wrist, Rose dragged her back to the tents and shoved her in, ignoring the weird stares she was getting from the others. Climbing in with her, Rose closed the flap and forced Elsa into the sleeping bag, then sat cross-legged and frowned at her.

"I want you to get some rest, sweetie. You need it. You look miserable right now," she told Elsa.

"I'm honestly not that bad," Elsa tried to say around a yawn.

"Bullshit. I want you to lay down, close your eyes, and forget about that asshole for a few hours. We'll keep it down out there so you can sleep. But you need to do this. It does you no good to lose that much sleep over this. He's a bastard, we all know this, and he can't get to you. So ignore him and get some rest. I'll come check on you in a bit, or I'll send your man in here. Whichever."

"Hey, Rose?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for being such an amazing friend," Elsa said. "I mean it. You've done so much for me, and you've always looked out for me. I honestly don't know where I'd be without you. Micah and I wouldn't even be together if it wasn't for you. So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you."

"Elsa, you're more than welcome. I take care of my friends. Now get some rest."


	28. Chapter 28 - Vindication

**Chapter 28**

 _Vindication_

Elsa did manage to sleep for several hours, which she did not expect to happen. When she awoke, she felt incredibly refreshed, at least compared to how she felt earlier. The headache and the burning in her eyes were gone. The grumpiness that she had felt dissipated. Most importantly, she had forgotten about Jeremy's message for the time being.

The first thing she saw when her eyes were open was the face of her wonderful boyfriend. He was laying down next to her, just watching her as she slept. This brought a smile to her face and made her feel happy. The best part was when he gave her that toothy grin that she loved.

"Well, good morning sunshine," Micah cooed.

"Good morning sweetheart," Elsa replied. "I'm sorry about last night. It was supposed to end on a high note, not get ruined by a worthless voicemail from my asshole ex."

"It's okay, Els. Really. What we shared was amazing, and that's the important part. I wouldn't give that up for anything. In fact, I can't wait to share that experience with you again."

"Me either. But I'm still sorry. Especially since I couldn't sleep at all. I've missed half the day just trying to catch up."

"Don't worry about it," Micah said dismissively. "It's only been like three hours. It's not even noon yet."

"It's not? Oh. I didn't realize. I thought I had slept longer than that," Elsa said.

"Yeah? How're you feelin'?"

"I feel a lot better. I don't feel so sick or upset."

"Good. Are you hungry?" he asked.

Yawning, Elsa began to stretch her arms and legs to relieve the stiffness in them, nearly smacking Micah in the face. "Not really. I am thirsty though."

"Well, we have plenty of Pepsi, just for you," Micah said with a grin.

"Okay. But first, I want to cuddle. So get over here and cuddle with me," Elsa demanded.

"Yes ma'am."

Micah scooted as close to her as he could and draped his arm around her, then kissed her lightly on the forehead. Snuggling up against him as best she could, Elsa did her best to find the perfect spot next to him. When she got comfortable, she let out a very content sigh and closed her eyes. She could have easily fallen back asleep if she stayed where she was for just a bit longer, but unfortunately he wouldn't let that happen.

"Hey, you said cuddle, not sleep," Micah said teasingly. "We can do more of that later. Maybe a dip in the cold water will wake you up."

"Yeah, okay, fine," Elsa grunted. "I'm up. Jerk."

Once she was actually ready and managed to free herself from the tangled sleeping bag, Elsa crawled out of the tent and had to shield her eyes from the bright midday sun. Rose and Anna were nowhere to be seen, and neither was her faithful dog. Kristoff was sitting in one of the beach chairs they had brought and had a pair of stylish sunglasses on. When he looked up at Elsa, he smiled at her then turned his attention back to the water.

"Hey there, Missy. Get enough sleep?" he asked.

"For now, yeah," Elsa said. "Where are Rose and Anna?"

"Oh, they took Ellie for a walk down the beach. Said they wanted to go look for seashells or something. I think they really just didn't want Ellie waking you up."

As he dug through one of the coolers, Micah finally pulled out a can of Pepsi and thrust it into Elsa's hand. "We did our best to keep quiet. I know how light of a sleeper you are."

"Not light enough to hear you come into the tent and lay down next to me," Elsa replied as she cracked open her drink with the satisfying pop, the carbonation and fizz making that familiar hiss.

"I'm just sneaky like that."

"So it seems."

"So what do you guys feel up to doing?" Kristoff asked. "It's almost lunch time. We can roast some hotdogs if you guys want."

"Sure," Elsa said with a shrug. "I'm not all that hungry just yet, but maybe after the fire's going I will be."

"Cool. We'll get it started here in a bit. I might need your assistance, bro."

"Yeah, sure. Not a problem. I think Elsa and I are gonna go for a walk and see if we can find the others," Micah said.

"I'll be here enjoying the sun."

Elsa and Micah began to slowly walk down the beach, not really caring which direction they went. They mostly just wanted to be alone, which wasn't hard to do. The others had been giving them plenty of space so they could enjoy each other's company without constantly having someone eavesdropping on them or watching their every move. Their friends were pretty thoughtful for the most part.

"So how are you feeling, really?" Micah asked as he took her hand in his.

"I'm okay. Just doing my best to not think about things, because right now, our lives are stressful as hell," Elsa said.

"Well, what is on your mind?"

"It's hard to explain. But simply put, I want more of what we did last night," she said with a shy smile.

This made Micah grin like a fool. "Don't worry, baby. There will be plenty more of that in our future."

"So, you did enjoy it?" Elsa asked.

"Of course I did," Micah answered with scrunched up eyebrows. "Why wouldn't I?"

"I don't know. I mean, I didn't do anything really."

"That's not true. Besides, it was our first time. It's not like either of us was completely comfortable with it. We were both nervous as hell. At least at first. The next time will be different though. We'll both know what to expect."

"I suppose you're right."

"Did you at least enjoy it a little?" he asked.

"Absolutely," she stated firmly. "It was incredible. _You_ were incredible. I don't know what you did to me, but god do I want more. I don't know how to put the feeling into words, Micah. But I have never felt anything like it. They need to invent a word that describes what I felt. It was heavenly."

They walked for some time, neither really paying any attention to how far they went. It was a nice and peaceful walk. The kind of walk that one could get lost in their thoughts and just enjoy the world around them. The smell of seaweed washed ashore was rather pungent, and the myriad husks and shells of sea creatures that the seagulls had attacked earlier that morning were scattered about. They had to walk lightly just to be sure they didn't cut their feet on the sharp remains.

After a time, they finally decided they had walked far enough and decided to turn back. They didn't talk much, but there was no real need to. The ability to enjoy each other's company without speaking was something they had slowly become accustomed to. It was still strange to them that they were together as a couple, and it was even stranger that they had chosen to consummate their love for one another. Neither had ever anticipated that it would ever happen. But neither complained about it either.

"So, what are we going to do when we get home?" Micah eventually asked her.

"I don't know," Elsa answered. "I'm going to go to the police with that voicemail, but I doubt it'll do any good. As far as Amber goes, we just wait for the test results to come back."

"And what if it turns out that I am the father? What then?"

"Then we deal with it the best we can," Elsa said. "I don't know what will happen, but I do know that I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying right by your side. But if you decide to sign the birth certificate and claim the baby as yours should the test results say you are the father, then she will have every right to come after you for child support. That much I do know. Unless you can prove she is an unfit mother, and then have the baby's custody handed over to you. But the odds of that happening are slim. She's not addicted to any drugs as far as we know, and she's not mistreating the child either. The only thing we have over her is the financial stability of our parents to support the baby better than her. Unfortunately, that isn't enough."

"Okay. Do you think I'm the father?" he asked nervously.

"Honestly, I have no idea. But seeing how unfaithful she was to you, I'm willing to bet that there's at least one other person that can potentially be the father. Maybe more. Never mind the fact that you used protection. So I guess there is a much slimmer chance than we originally thought."

"I don't know how I'll pay child support. I don't have a job."

"That's something we'll have to figure out when the time comes," she said. "But there is no point in stressing about it right now."

"Any chance the test results will be there when we get home?" Micah asked.

"I doubt it. Didn't the doctor say it would take a couple weeks?"

"He actually didn't specify how long it would take. But I made sure that the results would be mailed to your place. Also, I should get a phone call at some point. So one way or another, we're going to find out pretty soon I would think. I just hope it's really soon."

Eventually they made it back to camp, and the others had already returned. As soon as she saw Elsa, Ellie ran and jumped up to greet her, nearly knocking her over in the process. It was a little unlike Ellie to do that, but it wasn't the first time. She was, after all, still a puppy. She was still pretty easily excitable, even if she was normally very well-behaved.

Kristoff had already taken the liberty of getting another fire going so he could start barbecuing some hotdogs for everyone. The smell of them cooking made Elsa's mouth water as she realized just how hungry she really was. Her soda did a poor job of filling her up. But then, she really never expected it to. Then her stomach growled at her, and she felt it was unfair to make her wait for the food to finally be ready. She did, however, snag an uncooked hotdog and gave it as a treat to Ellie. That seemed to please the dog some. Elsa then realized she had been spoiling the girl quite a bit lately.

Soon enough, after some torturous waiting, the food was finally ready. Elsa did what she had always done, and waited patiently for everyone else to grab theirs first. It was just like back in school. As soon as it was her turn, she became a whirlwind as she made haste to nab her food and stuff it in her face as fast as she could. It was very unlike her, and it made the others all laugh at her expense. At that point though, she didn't really give a damn. She felt like she was starving.

The rest of the day went much better than the morning had. It was nearly one hundred degrees out, and the water was fairly warm for being in the Pacific Northwest. So the gang decided to brave the cold waters and splash around for a bit. Elsa found it rather fun, and a great way to take her mind off of things. She had been dwelling on that voicemail all day, no matter how hard she tried to push it to the back of her mind. It had been a constant reminder of just how psychotic her ex-boyfriend really was. How controlling and sick he was. He was dangerous, but she was sure that her friends would make certain that he never harmed her again.

00000

Sunday morning after breakfast, the gang packed up the SUV and headed home. Neither Elsa nor Micah were really looking forward to what they had to deal with once they got back, but they didn't really have much choice in the matter. Jeremy and Amber were problems that had to be dealt with. Whatever came their way, they were both prepared to handle it together. That was the promise they had made to each other. No matter what it may be.

The trip home was thankfully uneventful. Everyone sort of just relaxed and listened to Elsa's music on the way home, although Rose did try to convince her to play some anime music she had on her phone. The general consensus was that nobody really wanted to listen to it. This made her fairly grumpy the rest of the ride home, but she got over it once they pulled into the driveway.

After everything was unloaded from the car, everyone said their goodbyes and headed to their own homes. Even Micah decided he needed to go and see his mother for a bit. This left Elsa and Anna alone for the time being, which they didn't mind. They knew that their guys would be back before too long.

It felt good to be home for the both of them. As soon as they stepped inside, Ellie ran up the stairs and headed to Elsa's room. The girls were busy packing their things into the garage before heading upstairs when their mother came out to see them. She had an envelope in her hands and looked rather nervous.

"Elsa, sweetie, this came in the mail. It's addressed to Micah. It's from the clinic," Melissa said.

The pit of Elsa's stomach suddenly grew very cold, and she nervously took the letter from her mother. She knew right away that it had to be the results. They had come much quicker than she had expected.

"Okay, um, I can't open this without Micah here," Elsa stated. "It wouldn't be fair. I'll go call him and tell him that it's here."

Elsa headed upstairs to her room and sat on the edge of her bed, staring at the envelope. They had been waiting on this for two weeks. It had almost consumed their every thought, and they were both dreading the results. She had to admit she was incredibly nervous. Although, even if the thing said he was the father, she had promised him that she would be there regardless. If that meant helping him raise his baby, then that's exactly what she would do.

She had her phone out and had Micah's number pulled up. She was kind of scared of telling him, because she knew it would stress him out until they read it together and saw what it said. But, she told herself she had to be somewhat brave, and so decided to make the call. It rang several times, and she thought it was going to go to voicemail, but he picked up at the last second.

 _"Hey baby."_

"Hey."

 _"What's up? Miss me already?"_

"Yes, but that's not why I called."

 _"Oh. Why do you sound upset?"_

"They're here."

 _"Who is?"_

"The test results."

 _"What? Already? Are you sure?"_

"Yes. The envelope is from the clinic, it's addressed to you, and it says confidential on the front. What else could it be?"

 _"I dunno. Maybe a bill?"_

"Micah, we paid when we got there. It's not a bill."

 _"...Right. So, what do you want me to do?"_

"Well, we need to get together and open this thing. I don't care if you come here or I go to your place, but we need to do this."

 _"Okay, give me like thirty minutes and I'll be over. I need to take a shower."_

"Okay. I'll do the same then. I'll see you in a bit. Love you."

 _"Love you too."_

When she hung up, Elsa tossed her phone onto her nightstand and sighed. She still clutched onto the envelope and couldn't bring herself to set it down. What she really wanted to do was open the thing and see what it said. But, she had promised herself that it had to be with Micah. That's what she kept reminding herself of. It had to be with him.

She did eventually manage to set it down next to her phone, and dragged herself to the bathroom to take a shower. The steaming hot water felt great, and for a short time it seemed to wash away her worries. It relaxed her, and she didn't want it to end. Unfortunately for her, Micah would be over soon and she wanted to be dressed before that happened.

Once she was out and dressed, and her hair had been blow-dried and put up into a bun, she sat and waited for Micah to show up. It had been over thirty minutes, and it was unlike him to be late for anything, especially when it involved seeing her. He was almost always punctual then. But this time, he was running late. Elsa couldn't understand why.

When he did finally show up, he apologized profusely for taking so long. He had to have a talk with his mother before heading over. It was primarily about what would happen if he was the father. Jenny said that they would fight for custody if that was the case, and with the money she made they could easily afford a good lawyer. It was apparently discussed between her and Melissa as well that they would pitch in together to get the best lawyer they could find. Micah wasn't sure how to take the news.

As soon as they were alone, Elsa pulled him into a hug and just held him for a minute before handing him the envelope. He stared at the thing the same way she had. He was apprehensive about opening it. If it said he was the father, their lives were going to change forever. But, he had sworn to his friends that he would do the right thing and step up to the plate to be in Chelsea's life.

"Are you ready?" Elsa asked nervously.

"No, not at all," Micah replied just as nervously. "I don't want to do this."

"You have to, babe. Please? I don't think I can wait any longer."

"Alright. Just give me a moment here to mentally prepare for this."

Micah took several deep breaths before tearing the envelope open, making it a much bigger deal than it needed to be. As soon as the letter was open, Elsa was right next to him reading over his shoulder.

"Okay, let's see. 'Mr. Aldrin, blah blah blah...' Oh, here we go. I'm not sure I understand what it says," he admitted.

"Oh my god! Micah! You're not the father!" Elsa squealed with delight.

"Thank god! I thought I was going to be stuck dealing with that bitch forever."

Elsa quickly grabbed him by the head and turned him just enough so she could smash her lips to his, then proceeded to jump up and down in excitement. "This is wonderful! I can't wait to see the look on her face when we give her the news. Oh my god, I am so relieved."

"So am I," Micah said with a sigh. "I do feel bad for the kid having to put up with her though. I mean, she's gonna be a terrible mother. She's selfish as hell, and doesn't think about anyone but herself. Plus, with as much as she sleeps around, that kid is going to go through a lot of drama."

"I know, but unfortunately there is nothing that can be done about that," Elsa replied. "But we do need to let everyone know the results. So, we should probably do that. I'll go tell my mom and Anna, and you call your mom and let her know. I'm sure she's worrying about it right now."

"Yeah, she is. I'll do that. Go let your mom know the good news."

After Elsa bolted downstairs to her mother's office to share the news, she ran back upstairs at lightning speed to hop onto the computer and see if her friends were online yet. To her surprise, they were. As soon as she was logged in, she was already typing up her message.

 _Frosty Soul: Oh my god guys, I have fantastic news! We got the test results back already, and guess what! Micah is not the father!_

 _Dominator: That's awesome! Glad to hear it!_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: That's great news, Els! What are you guys going to do to celebrate?_

 _Frosty Soul: I have no idea. I mean, I can think of a couple things, but neither of which you guys need to know the details of._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Ooh, I like the sound of this. You're telling me in private._

 _Frosty Soul: No, I'm not._

 _Dominator: Yeah, I don't think she wants you in her business this time, Rose. You do enough snooping around in her love life as it is._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Oh please. I know for a fact that Micah tells you everything. I've overheard him several times._

 _Dominator: That's not the point. That's his choice. Elsa is choosing not to disclose any information this time. I think you should respect that._

 _Frosty Soul: Thank you, Kristoff._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Don't worry, love. I know you'll come around._

 _Frosty Soul: We'll see. I'm not making any promises on that._

 _Dominator: Do you guys want to go out to celebrate? We could meet somewhere for dinner or something._

 _Frosty Soul: No, I think this time it's just going to be me and Micah. We need to head over to Amber's to rub it in her face. Oh god, this will feel so good!_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: I kind of like this new Elsa. Vindictive and vengeful. Not to mention scary as hell. What happened to our shy and timid little girl?_

 _Frosty Soul: She died the moment Micah and I got together and had to deal with Amber's bullshit. I am never going back. The Elsa you see now is here to stay. I will fight tooth and nail for my man, no matter what. Nobody is taking him away from me._

 _Dominator: Holy shit, you're pretty serious._

 _Frosty Soul: Dead serious. I've already warned Amber once that she better stay the hell away from us once we got the results back saying he isn't the father, otherwise she will have to deal with me. She does not want that._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: I love this girl. Seriously, I'm in love._

 _Dominator: Yeah, well, I'm pretty proud of you as well, Elsa. You've definitely grown in a very short amount of time._

 _Frosty Soul: Thanks. It's about time as far as I'm concerned. Like I said, I am not going back to the way I was. Ever._

"Hey, Els," Micah said as he reentered the room. "I think we ought to go pay Amber a final visit. Get that out of the way so I never have to think about her ever again."

Elsa looked up from her computer and had a devilish grin on her lips. "I was thinking the exact same thing. Let's go deal with her and get her out of our lives for good."

00000

It was the fastest drive to Amber's house that Micah could ever recall. Elsa must have broken at least five different laws driving them there, and when she pulled up to the curb outside Amber's house, she hopped out excitedly and dragged her boyfriend up the steps to the front door. Then she pounded her fist against the door as hard as she could, rattling it in it's frame. When the door opened a familiar face was standing on the other side.

"Oh hey, you're that dude that got into that fight with Amber. What do you want?" the guy asked brusquely.

"We need to talk to Amber. It's none of your business about what," Micah retorted as he drew himself up.

"Whatever," the guy responded. "Hey, babe! You have company!"

They could hear the baby crying inside, and Amber yelled something that neither could understand. But as soon as she answered the door, she smiled at Micah and glared at Elsa.

"So, what do you need?" she asked.

"The test results came back, and you'll never guess what it says," Micah said joyously.

"What? What does it say?"

"I'm not the father, just like I told your dumb ass."

"What!? Let me see it," Amber demanded.

When Micah handed over the letter, Amber read it over as fast as she could, then looked horror-struck when she found the results.

"This can't be right. There is no way. You are the father. This is a lie," Amber said.

"Quit being delusional you dumb bitch," Elsa said angrily. "The results are right there in black and white. Micah is not the father, which means one of the other guys you were sleeping with at the time is. Now get the hell out of our lives and keep your filth to yourself, and if you _ever_ try to contact Micah again, you will have to answer to me. You do not want that. Like I said before, I will end you. So get it through your thick skull and go to hell."

Before Amber could think of a response, Micah ripped the letter from her hands and stormed off with Elsa back to the car. They could hear the house door slam shut as they got into the car. As soon as they were in and taking off, Elsa broke out into laughter. Micah stared at her as if she had lost her mind.

"Els, are you alright? You're kind of scaring me," he said nervously.

"Oh, I'm great!" Elsa exclaimed. "The look on her face was priceless! You have no idea how satisfying it felt to put her in her place. It was wonderful."

"Yeah, it did feel pretty good. Also, I blocked her number on the way over, so you don't have to worry about that. My days of dealing with her are over."

"Good. Now, let's put all of this behind us and celebrate."

"Okay, what do you want to do?" Micah asked.

"I have a few things in mind," Elsa said with a grin, "but they have to wait until later. So, how about a movie? Just the two of us."

"Sure, sounds good to me. What do you feel like seeing?"

"How about Warcraft? The crowds have to have died down by now. I read that it was at least decent."

"That works for me. You know I'm not big on crowds anyway," Micah replied.

"Neither am I. Sometimes I get anxiety problems, although I can usually get through them if I just force them to the back of my mind. It's partly why I never want to go to the fair."

"Oh, I wasn't aware of that. You never told me that that was why. I just thought you didn't like it."

"I'm sorry. I've been a horrible friend and girlfriend. I've kept so much stuff secret from you for so long, and all out of fear that you would hate me if you knew everything about me," she admitted bashfully.

"Why the hell would I hate you? And what else have you kept secret from me?" he asked.

Elsa grew quiet for a moment, and shot him a nervous glance before taking a deep breath. "There are a couple things I'm not ready to talk about, and I don't know if I'll ever be comfortable enough to do so. It's nothing personal against you. It's all me and my messed up head."

"Elsa, you're not messed up."

"You wouldn't say that if you knew what was inside my head."

They had finally returned to Elsa's house and were sitting in the drive way. Neither made a move to get out of the car, mainly so they could continue with the conversation. But it made Elsa very nervous to even be bringing up any of the stuff that she had kept secret from everyone.

"Please, just talk to me Els," Micah begged. "I'm not going to judge you or anything. You know that."

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. I just can't right now. Maybe someday." Elsa said apologetically.

"Elsa, that isn't fair. I thought you said no more secrets."

"I know it's not. And yes, I did say that. But this stuff is different. I'm just not emotionally or mentally ready. I'm sorry Micah."

"I honestly thought you were going to change. But I guess I was wrong," Micah said, annoyed.

"Please, don't be like that," Elsa pleaded. "You know how difficult my past is. You were there for all of it. All I'm asking for is time. I need time to prepare myself. I'm already terrified of losing you because of it."

Micah folded his arms and huffed at her. "And what could possibly be so bad that I would leave you over it?"

"You're just going to have to trust me on this. It's bad. Like, I'm a horrible person kind of bad."

"I have never known you to be a horrible person."

"Yeah, well, this will change your opinion of me. But give me time and I will tell you, okay?" Elsa asked.

"Fine. But don't think I'll forget," Micah warned her.

"I know. I would never expect you to," Elsa said solemnly.

When they finally got out of the car and headed upstairs to Elsa's room to get ready to go see the movie, she told herself over and over that she would tell him that evening. She just prayed that it wouldn't ruin everything, and that he wouldn't leave.


	29. Chapter 29 - Admission of Guilt

**A/N: I don't have a lot to say this time. Which is probably good because I can get quite verbose. Sorry.**

 **Today's chapter deals with a couple subjects that are pretty serious, one being kind of controversial. I did the best I could with it, but I don't want anyone thinking I'm preaching in any way. That's not intended at all.**

 **Anyway, I just wanted to warn you now in case it is a serious problem for anyone. I highly doubt it is, but still I'd rather be cautious about it. This story has been dealing with some serious issues since the first chapter, and I've done the best I can to treat all of it with the respect and care it deserves. I've also done my best to make it more true to life than come across as some cheap fanfiction fetish or lack of realism. There's still plenty more topics that will be brought up in the coming chapters, and sooner rather than later.**

 **Oh, and a little teaser. In just a few more chapters, the group _might_ be expanding by one more. I am really looking forward to it. **

**Also, a few characters that have mostly just been side characters up to this point will be getting the spotlight more often than they have been. I've listened to the feedback on that as well. I've got plenty of PMs from people asking for more Kristoff and Anna time, as well as Rose time. Well, your voices and prayers have been heard. It won't be this chapter, but starting with the next chapter they are going to take center stage for a short bit. I'll be working more of their stories into the chapters from here on out. I promise.**

 **Shit. Looks like I lied. I had more to say than I thought. Anyway, read on and enjoy!**

 **Chapter 29**

 _Admission of Guilt_

The movie ended up being rather enjoyable for them, even though neither really knew anything about the Warcraft lore. They still hadn't tried out World of Warcraft like the group had decided they would, so they weren't sure how things tied in with the movie, if they did at all. They had shared a drink during the movie, along with a box of chocolate covered mints. It was chocolate, so Elsa was immediately a fan.

On the way home, Elsa was dreading what she had sworn to herself she'd have to follow through with. There were parts of her that she had never shared with him, even though she had made the promise to Micah that she would never keep any secrets from him again. That was her promise to him. But that very promise had already been broken, and she was disappointed with herself, even more so than Micah was. Even though she was afraid, it was something that had to be rectified.

As soon as they got home, Elsa led him upstairs to the kitchen and started rummaging through the pantry and cabinets. She was looking for something, anything, to make for dinner. Something good to soften the mood he was in. She knew her cooking always made him happy, so she was praying that it would do the trick this time as well.

Eventually, she settled on homemade spaghetti and meat sauce. So, she quickly set to work concocting the sauce from the tomato sauce and spices she had available. While she was busy getting things together, she decided she would convince Micah to help so he could learn how to cook. At first he was pretty apprehensive, but she urged him to try and just do as she instructed. Elsa was as patient as a saint with him, and tried to make it a little fun for them both. Whether or not she succeeded, she had no idea.

Soon enough, dinner was done. There was enough for them to have seconds, or even thirds if they really wanted. Anna wasn't home, and Elsa's mother rarely ate dinner with them anymore, so there was plenty of food to be had. Once they were full, they stored away the rest of the food in containers and tossed them in the fridge before doing the dishes. With the both of them doing everything, it went by much quicker. Micah wasn't a hindrance at all like he thought he would be. When they were all done, Elsa gave him a quick peck on the cheek before leading him down the hall to her bedroom.

Closing the door behind her, Elsa pulled her computer chair towards the middle of her room and sat down. Her hands were folded in her lap, and she was biting her bottom lip out of nervousness. Micah was sitting on her bed, looking at her expectantly, but not sure what was going on.

"Elsa, what is this?" he asked in confusion.

"I, um, owe you an explanation," she replied quietly.

"What do you mean? An explanation for what?"

"Earlier you reminded me that I had promised to not keep anything secret from you anymore. Well, I've decided that you're right and that it's time I come clean."

"Oh. Look, I'm sorry I got upset about it. If you need more time to become comfortable enough to tell me, then take all the time you need," Micah said.

"No, I need to do this. If I don't, I may never do it. But I want you to know how scared I am. I'm not proud of anything I'm about to tell you," Elsa admitted.

"I know you are. But you don't have to be afraid with me, okay? And no matter what it is, I won't judge. I promise."

Elsa took several deep breaths, and not a single one helped. Her chest felt tight, and her heart was racing. She refused to look him in the eyes, believing he could see her thoughts if given half a chance.

"Okay...Um, I don't really know how to start this. So, I'll just be as blunt as I can I guess. I, uh, have this problem that I haven't told anyone about. Not even Dr. Cohen. I've been trying to suppress these thoughts as much as I can, but it's been really, really hard. Um... Oh God, I can't do this."

"Elsa, just take your time, okay? But I have to ask, what thoughts are you having?"

"Okay, I can do this," she said, trying to psych herself up. "See, these thoughts are really dangerous, and I don't know why I have them. But I suppose this isn't helping at all."

"Not really. I don't know what you're trying to say right now," Micah admitted.

"Well, what I'm trying to say is that a very small part of me sort of misses the abuse. I have no idea why, and it scares me. But it's like having this tiny voice in my head telling me I still deserve it and that I need it, and that no matter what I say or do that it will never change. It scares me because, well, the voice is getting louder."

Micah was quiet for several seconds as he processed what she had just said. It didn't make any sense to him, and he had no real idea what to say. What she said seemed ridiculous.

"Okay, wait. Let me get this straight. A part of you misses being abused? Like what? Being hit and stuff?" Micah asked.

"...That's part of it," Elsa mumbled.

"That's only part of it? What does that mean? You miss being molested too?"

"I don't know!" she cried. "I can't figure out the thoughts in my head! And it's not so much I want it as it is that I feel like I deserve it."

"Holy shit. Elsa, this is serious. Very, very serious. I've got no idea how to handle this. I mean, my girlfriend is telling me that she deserves being abused and misses it. Please, don't tell me you want me to do this stuff to you."

"I'm not sure what I want, Micah. I mean, I love how you treat me. You're kind and caring, you don't hurt me or call me names, and you are an amazing lover. But I can't get rid of these thoughts, no matter what I do. I told you before many times that I am a complete mess. Now you see why."

"And the nightmares? What about those?"

"I haven't really had many since we've been together, mostly because we've slept together every night in the last couple weeks. But I know that as soon as you're not here they'll be back."

"Okay, well, that's a start," Micah said, relieved. "But this other stuff, you need to tell Dr. Cohen when you see her next. When is that?"

"Thursday," she told him.

"Then you're telling her. I'm not giving you a choice here. You have to tell her."

"Okay, I will. I swear."

"Good. I'm glad that's out of the way. Now we can just relax."

Hesitating, Elsa bit her bottom lip again and looked away from him. "There's more."

"What? What more can there possibly be?"

"Do you remember when you found out I was raped by Jeremy?"

"Yeah, why?" Micah asked.

"Back when I was still with Jeremy, it was a couple months before we broke up that he actually raped me. He, um, took me up to that spot above the lake that I showed you. He was angry at me for something, I honestly don't even remember what, when he hit me really hard and knocked me to the ground. After struggling with him, he managed to take off my pants and, um, do what he did. Then he took off, leaving me there. It took me almost an hour to call my mom to have her pick me up. I just told her that we got into another fight and Jeremy was acting like an ass. She never noticed the bruise on the side of my face. That's how oblivious my mother is to everything.

"Well, the day I broke up with him, I had to ask Rose for a major favor. I asked her if she'd go to the clinic with me. Thankfully, she said yes. When we got together, I told her why I had to go, and she was shocked but very supportive. Um, I, uh, had to have an abortion."

This completely floored Micah. His eyes were bulged and wide, and his mouth was slightly open. He was once again speechless.

"Wow. Okay. Why...I mean, um...what?" he said as he stumbled over his own words.

"It was the hardest decision I've ever had to make, Micah," she said sadly. "I feel horrible for having gone through with it, but at the same time the baby was not a product of love. I most likely would have resented it, and it didn't deserve coming into this world unloved. But that incident joined my nightmares, and there have been times I've lied awake at night crying because of it. I hate myself so much, but I didn't have any other choice."

"Why didn't you ever tell me?" he asked.

"Because I was so ashamed of it. The only reason Rose knew is because I didn't want to be alone when I went through with it. She was very supportive and understanding. Afterwards, she took me to get ice cream so I could eat and try to forget. It didn't help though. It's the only time chocolate has ever tasted horrible to me."

"So, what? Nobody else knows?"

"No. No one else. Just you and Rose," Elsa said teary-eyed.

They were both quiet for awhile, neither one really sure what to say. There didn't really seem to be anything left to say. Elsa was slowly starting to weep silently, and Micah stood to pull her into a very loving embrace. Rubbing her back gently, he placed a kiss on her forehead and then held her tight. They didn't say anything, they simply just stood there holding one another. For how long, neither one could say.

After a time, Micah guided her to the bed and sat her down. Elsa was still crying, and didn't really seem to care what he did. So, he took off her shoes and forced her to lie down, then removed his own in order to crawl onto the bed with her. He laid behind her and just wrapped his arm around her as tightly as he could and held her. Her body shuddered as she wept, and he did his best to constantly tell her that everything would be alright. It seemed to help a little, because she did eventually calm down enough to breath normally again. Then she took his hand and brought it up to her lips and kissed it, then rested her cheek on top of it.

"I love you so much," she whispered. "You have no idea."

"I love you too, baby," he said soothingly. "And I think I have a pretty good idea. You sort of showed me this weekend. I just hope you don't regret it."

"Of course I don't. But that doesn't undo what I did. I told you, I'm a horrible person, and this is why."

"No, you're not. You have been dealt a shitty hand your entire life, Elsa. After everything that has happened to you, I'm amazed that you're still standing. You have a lot of hurt inside of you, and I'm going to do everything I can to help take that hurt away. You are too beautiful of a person to suffer so much."

"You're going to make me cry again, Micah," Elsa said. "This is exactly why I don't deserve you. You're too good to me."

This made Micah frown. "That's not true at all. And I don't know how to deal with either of your issues, but that doesn't mean I'm not gonna to try. But as far as the abortion thing goes, I think you made the best decision in a terrible situation. You shouldn't have to be a teenage mother because some asshole raped you, and the baby didn't deserve to be born that way. The baby deserved so much better. I know you keep saying you're a mess, and maybe you're right, but I highly doubt you'd be in a good enough mental or emotional state to take care of it and love it the way it would have deserved. I'm normally against abortion, and I know you are too, but I honestly believe that was the only real choice you had. The baby would have hated to grow up and learn that it was the product of a rape anyway. So, as far as I'm concerned, what you did was show the poor thing mercy."

"Thank you, sweetheart. It makes me feel a little better knowing that you don't hate me for it. I still feel like a horrible human being though."

"Well, I think only therapy will help," Micah said with a shrug. "Which is why I am urging you to tell Dr. Cohen when you see her next. Please do this for me."

"I told you I will," Elsa reminded him. "I promise. I won't hide anything from you or her anymore. And yes, those are the last of my secrets. There is nothing else. I swear."

"Okay, I believe you. I just hope you stay honest with me from now on."

"I will. I won't hide anything from you ever again."

They laid there like that for the rest of the night, slowly falling asleep. This time the nightmares came, and her sleep was restless and disturbed. She ended up tossing and turning all night, and woke Micah up several times. There was one point where she was whimpering in her sleep. When she rolled over to face him, he pulled her close and held her, and had to wake her up because she was whining. As she woke up, she slowly started to remember what she had been dreaming of and started to cry into his chest, clutching his shirt tightly in her hand.

Micah was heartbroken. He was witnessing the girl that he loved more than anything suffer from things that she could not control or change. With as much as she had suffered, he wondered how she was still able to function at all. The summer had only just started, and they were already dealing with something major and heavy. There was a very real possibility that things would only get worse.

00000

It was Thursday afternoon, and Elsa had just gotten out of her appointment with Dr. Cohen. Micah had been waiting for her in the lobby, and when she came out of her therapist's office, he took her hand and walked with her out to the car. When they got in, Elsa slowly started the engine and just sat there. Normally after a therapy session she would be a bit happier, but this time she looked rather morose.

"What's wrong babe?" Micah asked. "You normally like your visits with Dr. Cohen."

"I know," Elsa said with a sigh. "Today was just too heavy for me to deal with. I cried again. A lot. The worst part was I didn't have you there to make me feel better."

"Oh. I'm really sorry. What did she have to say?"

"She's putting me on a new medication along with the one I'm already on. It's an anti-psychotic. It'll supposedly help me with having those horrible thoughts, but it'll only work if I continue the therapy as well. As for the regret and self-loathing, she's going to help me work through all that. She said that a lot of women have those feelings after having an abortion, and because of the circumstances that led to my pregnancy, it's even more likely that I'll become suicidal, even with the medication I'm already on. I told her that too, by the way. That I've had thoughts of hurting myself again."

"You never told me that," Micah said.

"I'm sorry, I must've forgot," Elsa apologized. "I thought I did."

The drive home was quiet, and Micah kept looking over at Elsa as she drove. She really didn't look like she had it together at all. Her face was paler than normal, and her eyes were bloodshot. It was obvious she had been crying a lot, since that was all she had done since Sunday night. The lack of restful sleep was catching up with her already, and her hair was lacking that luster it normally had. She was a complete wreck.

When they got home, he dragged her upstairs to the bedroom and forced her to lay down. She didn't even bother protesting or arguing. Once she had climbed into bed, he fished out her little red dragon that was in poor shape and gave it to her. She immediately grabbed it from him and cuddled with it. Micah wasn't sure if he should smile or feel incredibly sorry for her.

Sitting down at the desk, Micah pulled over his laptop and booted it up so he could hop onto Skype. He knew the others would be online, so it wasn't really a big deal. As soon as he was logged in, they had already had messages waiting for him.

 _Mikasa Ackerman: How'd it go? Is Elsa doing alright?_

 _Dominator: Hey bro. Hope everything is okay._

 _Raging Rajang: Hey guys. And no, everything is not okay. Elsa is an emotional wreck right now. She's been crying nonstop since Sunday, and she looks horrible. She's got bags under her eyes, her face looks a little sunken in, and she just looks defeated. I think coming clean might have broken her._

 _Feisty Firecrotch: That sucks, Micah. That wall Elsa had built up was paper thin anyway. It was bound to come crashing down at some point. After everything she's gone through, I'm honestly surprised she's kept it together this long. But we've all tried to be there for her._

 _Raging Rajang: I know. You have no idea how much she appreciates it either. She told me last night that she was glad she told you guys, although I sort of forced her to._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Just don't push her too hard, sweetie. We don't want her to regret telling us, and we don't want her to slip further away from us. Right now, you have to handle her with the utmost care. Really, you should be with her right now instead of on here._

 _Raging Rajang: I know, but I am making her take a nap. She is so broken right now, Rose. She didn't argue, she didn't try to get out of it, she didn't say a damn thing. When we got back, I dragged her out of the car myself and up the stairs, and when we got into her room I had to basically maneuver her body for her because she wasn't really functioning. It hurts so much to watch her just fall apart like this._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: I know. Do you want us to come over?_

 _Dominator: Yeah man, we can come over and try to cheer her up. Maybe take you guys out somewhere._

 _Raging Rajang: No, I think right now what she needs is rest. She has her little dragon buddy to keep her company. Hopefully that'll help. He helped her through her entire childhood with all the awful stuff that happened to her. I catch her cuddling with him a lot still, and it was kind of a hint that things weren't okay. But I never dreamed it was this bad. I honestly don't know what else I can do right now._

 _Feisty Firecrotch: Elsa is a very loving person, and is very receptive to it as well. She's also incredibly gentle. You know all this. She's fragile. What you need to do is find a way to glue her pieces back together. I know you'll find a way, Micah. When was the last time you bought her flowers and chocolates?_

 _Raging Rajang: Um, Valentine's Day._

 _Feisty Firecrotch: Then you need to do it again. Get her a card too. Tell her exactly how you feel. Tell her how much you need her, and how much she means to you. Surprise her with it. Just do it out of the blue. You have no idea how much that will mean to her. It will make her feel so much better, even if it's just for a short time._

 _Raging Rajang: Yeah, okay. I can do that. That sounds really good actually. I'll do it._

 _Dominator: If she's asleep, then go now. She won't even know you're gone. It'll really surprise her when she wakes up from her nap and you're standing there with flowers in your hand._

 _Raging Rajang: Okay. I think she's asleep now. She was exhausted earlier. I'll be back later guys. Wish me luck._

As soon as he was signed off, he made a mad dash for the car keys, knowing Elsa wouldn't care if he borrowed them, and ran to the car. Elsa was already fast asleep, so she didn't even notice. Once he was pulled out onto the street, he hit the gas and sped off towards the nearest grocery store.

He ended up going to the nearest Fred Meyer, knowing that they'd have the biggest selection of flowers and hopefully Elsa's favorite. She loved posies, especially the light pink ones, and he had to scour the entire floral section to find the perfect ones. The best he could manage was a small assortment of posies with a few other flowers he didn't know the names of. They were pretty to be sure, so that's what he went with. It would have to do.

Next on the list was getting a card for her. What he needed was something that said exactly what he felt, or at least close enough. Something that would make her feel better. There were so many choices, but not a lot that really spoke to him. Eventually, though, he did manage to find one that sort of came close to what he wanted. On the front it had a quote he didn't recognize in gold lettering, and the rest of the card was flowery and what he considered to be romantic. He hoped, at least. It didn't really matter too much because he knew Elsa would appreciate the effort regardless, plus he planned on filling in the card with his own message for her. He knew that would matter the most to her.

Finally, he was off to the candy aisle to get Elsa's favorite chocolate. She really loved the caramel-filled ones from Dove, so he grabbed a couple bags of those and headed to the checkout line. The line wasn't too long, and in a matter of ten minutes he was back at the car and headed home. On the way, he kept praying that she was still asleep. He didn't want her to be awake when he got there, mostly so he could surprise her when she woke up. Not that it ultimately mattered. The fact that he put forth any effort at all would be more than enough for her, and he knew that.

When he got back, he ran upstairs and then quietly sneaked into the bedroom to find Elsa still passed out cold. She hadn't moved from her spot on the bed at all. Ellie had finally come into the room and curled up at the foot of the bed like always. As soon as he walked into the room, she lifted her head and began wagging her tail. Setting the flowers and chocolates down on the desk, Micah scratched her behind the ears and pat her on the side. She loved just about any attention she could get, and she had grown fond of Micah. He suspected it had something to do with the fact that he was always with Elsa, plus he treated them both very well.

He sat and waited nearly two hours before Elsa began to stir. At first she just stretched and yawned, then rolled over to see what time it was. When she saw Micah standing there with the flowers and a card in his hands, she sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"Micah, what is this?" Elsa asked sleepily.

"It's my way of showing you what you mean to me, plus I wanted to cheer you up. You've been so down since Sunday that it hurts to watch you slowly slip into this deep depression that you're going through. But these are for you. They're your favorites, with a few others mixed in. I hope you like them," Micah said.

When Elsa took the flowers, she started to smile for the first time since Sunday night. Then, before she could say anything, he handed her the card that he had in his other hand. She took it from him and read it over, her smile broadening. When she read his message on the inside, she started to tear up some.

 _I know that you've been through a lot of horrible things since we first met, but you have managed to survive it all. You are the strongest person I have ever met. Even after everything, you are still so full of love and life that it amazes me. I now know just how much you love me, and I think you have a pretty good idea of how much I love you. But, just in case you don't, I thought I would say it here._

 _You are, without a doubt, the love of my life. You are all I think about, and you are the only one I see. I want you to know that you warm my heart with just your bright and beautiful smile, and you make me fall head over heels when I look into your big blue eyes. You make my heart race with every kiss, and now I can't sleep without the warmth of your body laying next to me. I want you to know that I will never, ever stray. I will remain faithful to you until the day I die. I want to have a wonderful future with you. I want us to grow old together, have a family, own a home. All of the things that people dream of. That's what I want for us. There is no need for you to ever worry, because I will always love you._

As she read the card, tears started to drip down her cheeks and onto the card itself. When she finished, she set the card and flowers aside and stood up, pulled him into a hug, and gave him a deep and passionate kiss. It was a long and powerful kiss, and it meant something more than normal. He could tell that what she meant with that kiss was something that couldn't be said with words. It was something profound.

When their lips finally parted, Elsa looked into his emerald green eyes and he knew that she was telling him she loved him. She didn't have to say a word. He knew. They had had such a deep connection their entire lives that he could read Elsa like a book without saying a word to one another. Being with her felt like something that was always meant to be. Even though they had been together for only a few weeks, they had really had a relationship since they were little. They had always been together, they just hadn't realized it for a very long time. The only difference now was that they had made it official, and it felt so right.

After a few moments, Elsa escorted Ellie out of the room, closed the bedroom door and then the curtains over her window before fishing something out of her purse. When she pulled him over to the bed and motioned for him to slip under the covers with her, he gladly obliged. They laid and cuddled, kissing one another with as much passion as two lovers could have between them. Soon things became heated, and clothes were slowly being removed and mindlessly tossed to the floor. As they looked at one another with lust in their eyes, they both knew that there was no other way to express just how much they truly loved one another. They both knew that they were right where they belonged.


	30. Chapter 30 - Weak and Powerless

**Chapter 30**

Weak and Powerless

Saturday afternoon was a scorcher. It was in the high nineties, and it was rather humid as was typical for the region. There was no breeze to speak of, which didn't help the heat any. With the lack of rain, the exception being the storm from just a couple weeks ago, the grass was brown and dying just about everywhere. Even the water in the pool in the backyard was too warm to swim in.

Kristoff was dropping Anna off at home after she had spent the last couple days with him. Her mother had found out about their relationship, and while she wasn't super thrilled about the age difference, she still gave Anna the same warning she gave Elsa about using protection. Anna, of course, rolled her eyes at her mom but still reassured her that that wasn't going to be an issue for a long time. At least, as far as she needed to know.

"Hey babe, I'll talk to you on Skype in a couple hours," Kristoff said as he leaned out of the truck window.

"Okay. My mom isn't going to be home for awhile, so it's just Elsa," Anna said as she reached up and kissed him lightly on the lips. "So you can come up if you want."

"Sorry, but I told you I have some babysitting I gotta do. I promised I'd do it. But I might be able to sneak over later and see you."

Anna pretended to pout, but couldn't help but crack a smile. "Okay, fine. Drive safe, okay? I love you."

"I will, don't worry," Kristoff promised. "Love you too."

As he pulled away from the curb, Anna stood there and watched him take off down the road before walking up to the house. When she went to get her key out of her pocket, she saw that the front door was slightly ajar. Thinking it was odd but nothing else, she entered and called out to her sister.

"I'm home, Elsa! Kristoff said he'll be online in a couple hours! He has to babysit his cousins!" she yelled.

Heading up the stairs to get to her room, she noticed that one of the picture frames had fallen off the wall and the glass busted into pieces. Then she saw that one of the houseplants was knocked over and the dirt was spread out everywhere. In fact, the entire hallway was a mess.

"Elsa! I think Ellie made a huge mess! We need to clean it up before mom gets home!"

She got no reply. So, she chose to head to Elsa's room to see what her sister was doing. Her door was closed, and she could hear Ellie on the other side whimpering and clawing at the door. This wasn't normal behavior the dog ever displayed.

"Elsa, what the hell are you doing?" Anna asked as she opened the door. Peering inside, she saw no sign of Elsa. Ellie was jumping up and down as soon as the door was open, and ran out past Anna towards the end of the hall.

"Elsa!?" Anna called out again, expecting an answer.

Then she heard Ellie barking, and she went to see what the dog was fussing about. She was standing in the bathroom barking, and Anna saw that the door was broken and had a couple large holes punched into it. When she looked inside and flipped on the light, she nearly shrieked.

Laying on the floor was Elsa, bleeding at the mouth, and bruising and swelling everywhere. Anna was at her side in a heartbeat, freaking out and doing her best to get her sister to wake up. Then she remembered to check for a pulse, which Elsa still had though it was slow. Right away she had her phone out and was calling Kristoff.

 _"Hey, didn't I just drop you off? Miss me already?"_

"Kris! It's Elsa! She's bleeding and looks like she was beat to hell!"

 _"What!? Where!?"_

"I just found her in the bathroom! The door was busted down and... Oh god, she looks terrible! What do I do!?"

 _"Call for an ambulance. Now. Get off the phone with me and call. I'll turn around and come back. I'll just have to explain why I'm late. I'll be back in five minutes tops."_

"Okay. I'm scared as hell."

 _"I know. But you have to do this. I'll be there soon."_

As soon as she was off the phone with him, she was dialing 911 and panicking. When the operator answered, Anna freaked out and just started spewing out everything at once. The man on the other end did his best to calm her, and got the information needed to send help. It sort of helped to talk to him. He was very nice. The man asked her to remain on the phone until the paramedics were there, and she complied. She didn't think she could handle not having someone to talk to.

After a few minutes, Anna heard Kristoff's truck pull up and the door slam shut. Seconds later, he was running up the steps and ran towards the bathroom to look inside. Swearing under his breath, he slammed his fist against the wall and startled his girlfriend.

"What're they saying?" Kristoff asked.

"The paramedics should be here in a couple minutes. He wants me to stay on the line until they get here," she whispered. "What? No, that's my boyfriend. We're still waiting on the ambulance. Oh god, this is terrible."

A few minutes later, they heard the ambulance arrive. When the EMTs entered the house, Anna led them to the bathroom where Elsa was laying. They had brought in a stretcher so they could strap her onto it and carry her down to the gurney. But first they had to make sure she had a pulse, and then lifted her and laid her down on the stretcher. Anna was crying the entire time as she watched, and buried her face into Kristoff's chest. He had an arm wrapped around her, while his free hand was balled up into a fist.

It was incredibly difficult to watch her sister get placed into the back of the ambulance. The EMTs made sure that Anna was going to be okay and be able to visit the hospital as soon as her mother got home, but she was going to head down as soon as she could. Kristoff offered to take her, and after making sure Ellie was okay and cared for, they climbed into the truck and followed the ambulance.

The drive wasn't so bad since it was in the middle of the day. Rush hour hadn't started yet, so it didn't take more than 15 minutes to get to the hospital. In the meantime, Anna was on the phone with her mother, then immediately after she called Micah.

 _"Hey Anna, what's up?"_

"Micah, I have some horrible news. Elsa was beaten and knocked unconscious. She's on the way to the hospital right now."

 _"What!? How the hell did that happen!?"_

"No idea. I just got home a little bit ago and found the place a mess. The bathroom door was busted in and Elsa was lying on the floor all bloody and stuff. Her face looks horrible."

 _"Was it a break in or something!?"_

"I don't know. I have no idea if anything was stolen or not. But right now, I don't give a damn. I'm worried about Elsa."

 _"Okay, I'll be there as soon as possible. God damn it!"_

"Micah, please relax. I already did all of the panicking and stressing out for everyone. I'm going to call Rose. Just meet us at the hospital as soon as you can."

 _"I'm headed out the door right now. I'll be there in twenty minutes tops."_

The rest of the drive was quiet as Anna had no idea what to say or do. She was still freaking out and was at a complete loss. Her sister was in horrible shape and it scared her. What she wanted to know was what the hell happened, and who did it. The house was trashed, and there was a very real possibility that they were robbed. But the important part was Elsa's safety. She had to be okay.

They arrived at the hospital in record time, and pulled into the parking garage to find a spot. As soon as they were parked, Anna was nearly sprinting towards the ER entrance. If Kristoff didn't have a hold on her, she probably would have. She couldn't get to the lobby fast enough, and as soon as they were through the doors she broke free from her boyfriend's grasp and ran towards the nurse's station.

"Hi, my sister was just brought in. I need to see her," Anna said as she tried to catch her breath.

"What's her name?" the lady behind the counter asked.

"Elsa. Elsa Erickson. Please tell me I can see her!"

"She isn't ready for visitors yet. They just brought her in. Right now, they need time to clean her up and see just how bad her condition is. You might want to wait out in the lobby for a bit. I can come get you as soon as she's ready to see you, okay?"

This frustrated Anna severely, but there was nothing she could do. They headed out into the lobby, and just sat. She could barely sit still, and she kept looking at her phone to see if she had any missed calls and to check the time. As far as she knew, Micah had already told his mother, but it was possible that Jenny was at work. Her mother was on the way, as was Micah and Rose.

Kristoff was on the phone with his family explaining the situation. From the sounds of it, they were being very understanding. That was a small blessing at least. It meant he was going to get to stay with her and see Elsa the moment they were told she was okay enough to have visitors. When he got off the phone, he let out a heavy sigh and dragged the redhead into a hug.

"I'm sorry baby. This royally sucks," he said as he kissed her on the top of the head.

"Tell me about it. I don't even know what happened. I mean, why were they insistent on getting to her and doing this to her?" Anna asked angrily.

"I don't know. I hope to God we find out who did this. I'm in the mood to kill someone."

"What are we going to do? What if the damage done is too much?"

"Like I said, I don't know. She didn't look good though. Whoever it was did a number on her face. Where was Micah? Why wasn't he with her?" Kristoff asked.

"He went home earlier today according to Elsa's text. Something about he had some stuff to do. I don't know what. But we can't blame him for this," Anna said as she broke the hug.

"I'm not blaming him. I just wish I knew what happened. He never leaves her. Ever. Especially with how she's been this week."

They ended up waiting nearly forty minutes before anyone showed up. The first one there was Rose, and she immediately ran to Anna and gave her the tightest hug she's ever had. When she asked for details, Anna sat her down and retold the whole thing to her. This made Rose visibly upset. It was enough to cause her to walk over to the vending machine in the lobby and punch the thing as hard as she physically could several times. Once she recovered, she began to pace back and forth while looking at her phone. Roughly ten minutes later Micah arrived. Everyone immediately rounded on him and questioned him on why it took him so long to get there.

"Guys, I'm sorry! There was a major accident near my house and I couldn't get out on the main road. Trust me, I was pissed," he said swiftly.

"Why the hell weren't you with her!?" Rose shouted at him.

"I had to go home and take care of some stuff! I told her I'd be back in a short bit!"

"What the hell could have been so important that you had to leave her alone for!?"

Micah balled his hands up into fists. "I had some chores I had to take care of, okay!? I didn't think it was a big deal! She was doing okay when I left!"

"Will you two cut it out!?" Anna screamed. "My god! You two are not helping right now! So shut the hell up and sit down!"

The two glowered at each other for several more seconds before taking seats at opposite ends of the lobby. As soon as he sat down, Micah's head was in his hands as he leaned over and sagged his shoulders. He looked utterly defeated. Rose, on the other hand, refused to look at anyone as she was fuming. She was not at all happy with what was happening, and she wanted someone to blame. Unfortunately, that someone happened to be Elsa's hapless boyfriend.

"Did you tell your mother, Micah?" Anna asked from her seat under the large TV mounted on the sterile white wall.

"Yeah. She said she'd come down as soon as she could. I guess she was going to talk to her boss about getting off early to come down," Micah said.

"When did you head home today?" Kristoff asked.

"About 10 am. Maybe earlier. I wasn't planning on being gone so long. I figured it'd take me two hours tops to finish my chores."

"Well, it's 2:42 pm right now. That's about four hours. What the hell were you doing?"

"I was mostly just relaxing after I finished up. I honestly didn't think it would be a big deal. Hell, her mom was still there when I left."

"Micah, I'm not blaming you, but you really should have been back with Elsa as soon as you finished up. She is in a horrible place right now. She needed you there. She won't even tell us what's going on with her. All I know is her depression has kicked into hyperdrive," Anna said.

"I know! I already feel guilty as hell! I screwed up big time," Micah said remorsefully.

"Bro, you need to relax. Stop getting worked up, and quit beating yourself up. You screwed up. Now we deal with it. Elsa is going to recover," Kristoff reassured him.

They sat there and waited another thirty minutes before anything happened. Anna kept checking her phone to see the time, wondering where the hell her mother was. All she knew was that Melissa was out with a friend. She should have been there by now though. When the nurse came out to get Anna, she told the others that she'd be back out shortly to get them.

Once inside the room with Elsa, she could see more clearly just how bad the damage was. Her left eye was closed shut by the swelling, her lips were split, and overall her face just looked like a wad of dough. Anna could see bruising all around Elsa's chest and arms, and saw some bandaging around a few of her fingers as well. There was dried blood in her hair too, and that just sickened the redhead.

Elsa was barely conscious, almost not even registering that Anna was there. When Anna placed a hand on her sister's arm, she flinched and ripped her arm away while whimpering. Elsa's good eye was heavily lidded, but at least it wasn't swollen shut. Anna chalked it up to the painkillers she was probably on.

"Elsa, sweetie, it's Anna," she said as sweetly as possible. "Are you okay?"

"No," Elsa whispered hoarsely.

"Please tell me who hurt you."

Elsa mumbled something that Anna couldn't decipher. It was breaking her heart seeing her sister reduced to such a mess. Her head was barely able to sit still. Anna figured there was some slight nerve damage, and prayed that it wasn't permanent.

"Elsa, I need you to focus. Please. Can you say my name?"

Slightly turning her head to look at Anna, Elsa's eye began to tear up. "Anna," she said, although with difficulty.

"Yes. Do you hurt?"

"Yeah."

Anna was trying hard to not start crying. It was just too much for her. "I love you, Elsa."

"Love you," was all that Anna could understand.

"Do you want to see Micah?" Anna asked quietly.

"Yeah," Elsa mumbled.

"I'll be right back."

Anna slowly made her way back out to the lobby in tears, and as soon as she went through the doors she fell to her knees and started crying. Kristoff was at her side instantly, holding her and trying to calm her down. Eventually she did manage to calm herself enough to call Micah back with her, and showed him to Elsa's room.

The moment they entered the room Micah stopped dead in his tracks. The sight of his girlfriend in the shape she was in was horrifying. Then he slowly walked over to her and tried to touch the side of her face, but she whimpered and immediately looked away.

"Sweetheart, how do you feel?" Micah asked.

"Bad," Elsa tried to say.

"I am so sorry I was gone so long. This is all my fault."

"S'okay."

"Baby, who did this?" he asked quietly

"Dunno," she mumbled.

"You don't know? Okay. Do you remember anything?"

Elsa's good eye started to tear up again, and she slowly shook her head. "Can't. Hurts too much."

Micah's hands were gripping the handrail on the bed, and his grip tightened to the point that his knuckles were white. He was clenching his jaw and doing his best not to get pissed in front of his girlfriend. It was difficult though.

"I should have been there with you, Els," he said with restraint. "I could have stopped this. I could have...I could have done something."

Elsa looked up at him and tried to smile, but failed. Instead, she rested a bandaged hand on his and wheezed a little. "I love you. I'm sorry," she said hoarsely. Her voice was a bit stronger than it was before.

"Don't you dare apologize, Elsa. This is not your fault. I want to find the son of a bitch that did this. Are you sure you don't remember?"

"I can't. My head hurts."

"It sounds like she's more lucid than she was before," Anna said. "A little bit ago, she could barely speak."

"Is mom here?"

"Not yet. She said she was on her way. That was almost two hours ago."

"Oh," Elsa said, disappointed. "I want to go home."

"You can't baby," Micah told her. "You need to stay here and get better."

"Please don't leave me."

"I'm not leaving your side this time. I promise."

Eventually Anna brought Rose and Kristoff back to see her, and was still waiting on her mother. She called her several times, but never got an answer. She had no idea what was going on. The hospital was asking for insurance information, and Anna wasn't sure how much they were going to help Elsa without it. If they didn't get it soon, she was afraid they would send her sister home without help. She didn't know how this stuff worked.

It was nearly 4 pm when their mother arrived, and Jenny was with her. Melissa apologized for taking so long as she stopped by to pick up Micah's mother and they were stuck in rush hour traffic. As soon as they were there Anna took them back to Elsa's room where Micah was. Melissa nearly had a heart attack when she saw how bad Elsa was. She ended up asking her daughter all the same questions everyone else had, and it was obvious Elsa was getting tired. Eventually Anna was able to talk everyone into giving her some space, and they all headed back out to the lobby. Except for Micah. He refused to leave.

After a couple more hours of waiting, it was getting to be dinner time. Melissa had finally filled out all the information for the insurance, and decided that it was time to take Jenny to get some food for everyone. While they were gone, the doctor finally came to check on Elsa. He wasn't with her too long, mostly just to see how coherent she was and that everything was still functioning properly. Her good eye was still able to follow the flashlight he flashed at her, she could speak somewhat normally now, but she still freaked out when someone touched her. The only one able to lay a hand on her was Micah. He didn't scare her like the others did.

Jenny and Melissa returned about twenty-five minutes later with food from Jack in the Box for everyone. While they ate, the doctor came out and spoke with Melissa about Elsa's condition.

"Mrs. Erickson, my name's Dr. Monroe," the man said. "I'm the one on staff tonight. I just checked on your daughter and wanted to speak to you about the condition she's in."

"It's Ms. Ballard. I'm divorced," Melissa informed him.

"My apologies. I just wanted to go over a couple of things with you. Elsa is currently suffering from a severe concussion. It's causing her to have speech problems, and it's difficult to gauge just how aware she is of things. She is able to answer simple questions and make simple statements, but I have not been able to get her to do or say anything complex. There seems to be some slight nerve damage to her head and neck, causing her to rattle her head slightly. I am confident that this will go away once the pressure from the concussion subsides a little. Luckily, nothing is broken, which is a miracle considering the trauma her head and face have been subjected to. She had a couple dislocated fingers, but we were able to set those back into place and bandage them up to prevent any further damage. Her ribs are fine, there are no fractures that we can find on the x-rays, and overall I'm confident in a full recovery.

"The only issue that she may have going forward is memory loss issues. These are typically very temporary and everything should eventually come back to her. As of right now, she is unable to recall anything that has happened to her. All she knows is she's in severe pain, and that she's at the hospital. She still recognizes faces and names, which is good, but she remembers nothing of the events that brought her here. Now, I have been informed that the police are going to want to speak to her and whoever found her, so I'd be prepared to deal with that when they get here. But I am very curious. Do you have any idea of who would do this?"

Melissa was getting very teary-eyed and doing her best to keep herself together. "No. Her father is in prison, and I can't think of anyone else that would do this."

"Okay. Well, the police are going to want to know this, so just think about it and be prepared for that," Dr. Monroe warned her.

"When will my daughter be able to come home?"

"Well, we're going to want to keep her overnight to help make sure the swelling over her eye goes down. From there, we're going to keep an eye on her and see how the concussion is doing in a few hours. We're going to be moving her to a more private room soon, so you will be able to stay with her as long as you need."

"Okay, thank you," Melissa said.

When she told the others what was going on, they didn't look very happy about it. But then, they weren't happy about the situation to begin with. Rose was still angry with Micah, though not as much as she had been. Anna was now more down than she was anything else, and Kristoff was still looking to hurt someone. The mood overall was not very good.

Micah was still in the room with Elsa, having not moved from his spot beside her bed. When the nurse came in to move her upstairs to a different room, he followed and rode the elevator up with her. He refused to let her out of his sight. Once she was moved into a more comfortable room, he was right back at her side holding her hand as gently as he could. Every now and then she would look up at him and try to smile, but then would wince in pain. They hadn't been giving her morphine like he had first thought. They were giving her ibuprofen to help with the swelling. It wasn't nearly strong enough of a painkiller in his opinion, but it made sense why they were feeding it to her. They didn't want to mix it with the morphine in case it was too much for her.

When she looked up at him again, she tried to speak but her voice was so wispy and hoarse that it was difficult for her to make any noise. Eventually she was able to get it out, but it was a struggle.

"Lay with me," she forced herself to say.

"Baby, the bed isn't big enough," Micah said, trying not to grin too much.

Making an effort to scoot as far over on the bed as she could, Elsa patted the spot next to her, basically demanding he lay down next to her. With a smile he climbed onto the bed, and though there wasn't much space, it was just barely enough for him to lay beside her and not crush her.

"I wish I knew what happened to you," he said as he gently ran his hand through her hair.

"I do too," she whispered again. "I can't remember much. My head is pounding. I just remember fear."

"Don't worry. It'll come back to you. Then you can help us figure out who did this."

As they laid there talking, the others finally came up and entered the room, but didn't say much. Even Rose had calmed down enough to where she was no longer upset with Micah. They spent a couple hours there talking and trying to cheer Elsa up. It worked mostly. There were plenty of times where she wanted to laugh, but it hurt so much that she would just whimper and wince in pain instead.

Eventually it grew late, almost 10 pm, and everyone ended up heading home, leaving Micah there to look after her. When the nurse came in to check on Elsa, she was surprised to see him cuddling with her on the tiny bed. She didn't mind, and actually found it rather adorable. They had both fallen asleep. Micah had his arm stretched out across Elsa's belly, and her arms were hugging his. It made the poor woman feel terrible for having to disturb them, but she needed to check on how Elsa was feeling, and to check her IV levels. About thirty minutes after that, she brought Elsa some dinner, and Micah did his best to help her sit up and eat. She couldn't get her hands to work properly, as they kept shaking while she held her fork. It didn't help that the chicken was dry and the vegetables weren't all that great. But at least she had some milk. Micah ended up having to help feed her, and though she never said anything, she greatly appreciated it.

Afterwards, he had to excuse himself so he could get some food too, and ran down the road to an AM/PM to get some mildly disgusting hotdogs and an Icee. He also picked up a small Hershey's chocolate bar so he could give some to Elsa to help her feel better. At that point, he didn't really care if the nurse would like that or not. His main goal was making his girlfriend as happy as he could.

When he got back, the doctor was in the room examining Elsa's head and eyes again. He seemed rather pleased, and turned to Micah as soon as he walked into the room.

"Well, it would seem that your girlfriend is doing a little better," Dr. Monroe assured him. "I've gone ahead and added a small dose of morphine to her IV to help take the edge off the pain so she can sleep. The ibuprofen is helping a lot with the swelling, and her eye is already looking much better than this afternoon. The swelling of her head has also reduced, meaning the blood is draining out properly and the concussion is reducing. The nerves that were being irritated by the swelling have gone back to normal, so her head and hands aren't really shaking as much now. That should be completely gone by morning. It will take a few weeks for everything to be back to normal, and probably a month or two for all the bruising to have healed. But don't worry, there shouldn't be any permanent damage to her."

"What about her memory?" Micah asked. "She doesn't remember a thing."

"Her memory should return to her as things heal. It will seem like there is damage for a little bit. She'll be slower to react, she might have some speech problems, and she might forget some very basic things, but this should all come back to her and return to normal in a couple of weeks. I can assure you that Elsa will be okay."

"Okay, that makes me feel a little better. I feel guilty as hell though. If I had been there like I should have been, this never would have happened."

"I wouldn't worry about that. Right now, the thing to focus on is Elsa and her recovery. I know that it will mean a lot to her if you are there for her. I can see that you care about her a lot, and she is a very beautiful girl. So that is what should matter right now," the doctor told him.

"Yeah, you're right. Thanks."

As soon as the doctor left, Micah climbed back onto the bed with Elsa. She had flipped onto her side so she could look at him, and she smiled when she saw him. She instantly threw her arm over his shoulder and tried her best to hug him. Instead of scooting any closer, he chose to stay on the edge of the bed and just look at her.

"I love you Elsa, you know that? I love you more than anything. I'm so sorry, I should have been there to protect you," he said, reprimanding himself.

"Micah, it's okay. You had things you had to do. I'm not angry. I am just thankful that you are here now. I love you so much. I am going to get better and then I'm going to show you how much I love you," she said, sounding a bit better than she had before. Micah thought it might be the medication that was helping.

"I hope you can remember what happened. I really want to find the one responsible for this."

"I remember a little, but it's not much. I remember opening the front door and trying to run to the bathroom. But that's it."

"That's a good start. That means they didn't break in," Micah said thoughtfully.

"I'm sorry it's not much," Elsa said apologetically.

"What did I tell you about apologizing? You have absolutely nothing to be sorry for. I just want you to focus on getting better and trying to remember as much as you can, okay?"

"Okay, I'll try. I love you, sweetheart."

"I love you too, baby. Now, get some rest."


	31. Chapter 31 - Spoiled Rotten

**A/N: Alright, well, I thought that after the last chapter, the group(and you guys) deserved some happiness for a change. So, I give you this majorly fluffy chapter. In fact, with the exception of one major incident, there isn't going to be much drama for a bit. It's going to be a fun and happy period mostly for the next seven or eight chapters. I'd have to go back and check. Shut up. I know my story.**

 **Anyway, this chapter will have some much needed sisterly bonding time. There hasn't been much of it, and for that I apologize to those of you who want it. I overlooked it without realizing it.**

 **On that note, I finally got over my writer's block, and have written a couple new chapters. I've also taken into consideration what you guys want, and there will be more "secondary" character moments in the coming chapters. A couple chapters have entire sections dedicated to Anna and Kristoff(woohoo!), and for those of you that are fans of Rose, there's more of her and an entire chapter of just her...and our new friend. They'll be introduced in next week's chapter, actually. So look forward to that.**

 **Oh, before I forget. I am in need of some suggestions from all you lovelies for what I should do with the college segment of the story. We're not there yet, but I want to get prepared for when we do get there. So please, leave ideas either in the reviews or PM me, and we'll work on that together.**

 **So, with all that said, please enjoy the cheese.**

 **Chapter 31**

 _Spoiled Rotten_

Elsa was released from the hospital the next day. She was given a couple prescriptions, mainly for the pain and the swelling, that her mother would need to pick up on the way home. On the way, Elsa kept looking out the rear window of the car to make sure Micah was following them, since he was going straight to her house to be with her. It made her nervous to be alone, even though Anna and her mother were right there with her. What she needed was him to hold her and tell her she was going to be safe from now on.

The swelling of her eye had reduced more over the night, but not enough to let her open it much. It bothered her a great deal, because that eye was blurry and it made it difficult to focus. Her lips hurt a lot as well since they were split and bruised pretty badly. It was a miracle that none of her teeth were knocked out of her head. From what the doctor said, they weren't damaged at all.

When they finally got home, Anna and Micah helped escort her upstairs to her room. Then she was instructed to lie down and rest. She didn't think to argue, although she didn't really want to be in bed any longer. What she really wanted was to go out and get some junk food to eat so she could feel better, but she wasn't sure she'd even be able to eat anything. The chocolate that Micah had sneaked in for her last night was like heaven on earth for her. It really made her feel special, even if it was just an ordinary Hershey's bar. The fact that he had the foresight to bring her her favorite treat showed just how much he really cared.

Once she climbed into bed, Micah was quickly readjusting her pillows to help her sit up, and she smiled and thanked him. Then he offered to get her a Pepsi from the fridge. He was spoiling her way too much she thought, but she didn't have the heart to tell him to stop. She was secretly enjoying every second of it. When he came back with her drink, he had a slice of warm pizza for her as well. It was the type of junk food she was craving, and he must have read her mind because he smirked as soon as she grabbed it from him and took a bite. She had to be careful because of her lips, but it tasted so good compared to that hospital food that she didn't mind the pain much.

After awhile of just sitting and keeping her company, Micah finally told her he had to head home and shower. When she told him he could just shower there, he argued that he didn't have a change of clothes with him and needed to grab a few things. Then he reminded her that the bathroom door was busted off the hinges, which did no good for anyone. But, before he left, she grabbed his hand and held on as tight as she could.

"Please come back as fast as you can," Elsa begged him.

"Babe, I won't be gone more than an hour at the most, and it shouldn't even take me that long. I promise," Micah assured her.

"I don't want to be alone. I'm scared."

"I know, love. Don't worry, your mother and Anna are both here, and they will keep you safe until I get back. Okay? I'll send Anna in to keep you company while I'm gone."

"Okay."

As soon as he was gone, Anna was in the room sitting on the bed making sure Elsa was comfortable. She did her best to fluff her sister's pillows and cover her up as much as possible, although it was warm and Elsa really didn't need it. But she took the attention graciously. When Anna offered her a glass of ice water, she eagerly said yes. Something cold was just what she needed, and her Pepsi was already gone. When Anna came back with the glass of water, she handed it to Elsa and plopped herself down on the edge of the bed.

"How're you feeling, Els?" Anna asked with concern.

"I'm doing okay," Elsa replied happily. "I'm still in pain, but it's not so bad. I can almost open my eye now. Maybe in a few more hours I'll be able to. That's where the worst pain is, and it's slowly going away. My lips hurt a lot too, but it's tolerable. At least my head isn't throbbing and feeling like a ton of lead."

"That's really good to hear. How's your memory?"

"It's slowly coming back. I remember hearing the doorbell ring while I was listening to music and reading. I remember answering the door without looking out the peephole, which was a big mistake. I remember someone bursting in and scaring me, and I ran and locked myself in the bathroom. Then the door was broken. But that's it. I know there's still more, but it's all fuzzy. Like I can't see the persons face at all. It's just a blur."

"Well, hopefully it'll come back soon. I'm surprised at how much you remember already. The doctor made it sound like it would take weeks."

"Oh. Well, I know a lot more happened. There are pieces that stick out, but they don't make much sense. Like the hallway being a mess. I remember it happening, but I don't remember how. Oh! I remember something!" Elsa said excitedly.

"Yeah? What?" Anna asked.

"I remember being chased down the hallway to my room, and my door getting slammed shut. Where did you find Ellie?"

"She was locked in here. When I got here, she was clawing at the door and whining. Then when I let her out, she ran right to you in the bathroom and started barking."

"Okay. That makes more sense now. I think I'll remember more soon. I'm trying really hard, Anna."

"I know, sweetie. Just take your time and focus, okay? I don't want you stressing yourself out."

"Okay. Where is Ellie right now?" Elsa asked.

"She's out in the backyard laying down. She doesn't know you're home yet. Do you want me to go get her?"

"Yes please. I want to see my puppy."

It didn't take long for Anna to get Ellie upstairs and into Elsa's room. As soon as she was in the house she bolted for the bedroom and hopped on the bed, wagging her tail and licking Elsa's face as if she hadn't seen her in ages. Then she laid down and curled up on Elsa's lap, and enjoyed some much needed attention. It made her human companion very happy.

"I think she missed you," Anna giggled.

"I think so too. And I missed her. So it sort of evens itself out," Elsa said with a smile.

"It's good to see you smiling again, Els. Really. I haven't seen you smile once all week."

"I know. I'm sorry for that. I was going through some heavy stuff. I would tell you, but I'm afraid of mom finding out."

"Elsa, you know full well that I won't tell mom anything if you don't want me to."

Elsa let out a restrained sigh and looked down at Ellie. "Okay. Um, I've been having thoughts of hurting myself again. Also, I've been thinking about all the abuse I've gone through and how I sort of deserved it and want it. Then there is the abortion-"

"Elsa, what the hell!?"

"What?"

"First of all, abortion!? When the hell did that happen!?"

"Back when I broke up with Jeremy," Elsa said. "I know you know about the rape. That's how I got pregnant. I couldn't be a mother to a baby like that, so I had to have Rose go with me to the clinic and take care of it. It was for the best, unfortunately."

"Wow. Okay. So what is this about the abuse? Like, you miss it or something? All of it?"

"Kind of. I don't really know for sure. My thoughts are so confusing. They tell me I deserve to be abused, and that I need it. I don't know why I think this way, and it scares me. And yes, all of it. The sick shit dad did, the stuff Jeremy did...all of it."

"I'm really sorry Els. That has got to be horrible," Anna said.

"It is. It scares the hell out of me. But don't worry. Dr. Cohen knows."

"Good. I don't want you hurting yourself. You have too many people that love you and want you here."

"I know. That's why I haven't yet. But that's the only reason why. I'm messed up, Anna. I'm beyond broken. I don't understand what Micah sees in me," Elsa said sadly.

"Elsa, you have gone through more than most people have in their lives, and you're only seventeen. But you are a very strong person. You haven't let any of the horrible stuff take you down yet. You are also one of the most loving people there is. I have never seen someone care as much as you do. You have a very big heart. That is why everyone cares about you so much. Because they know how much you love them. If you were really messed up, you wouldn't be this way. You are just too good of a person."

"Thank you, Anna. I mean it. It means a lot when you guys say stuff like that. If I could cry without it hurting, I would be right now. But I'm not letting myself get that emotional. I don't feel like being in too much pain right now. My face still really hurts."

"Elsa, you are such a dork," Anna said with a lopsided smile.

00000

Micah came back roughly forty minutes later, smelling clean and looking a lot better than he had before. When he got back, he had brought more flowers for Elsa, who was doing her best to not cry. She wasn't very successful. After sitting down on the bed, he gently pulled her into a very tender hug, and lightly kissed her on the cheek, making sure to take extra care to not cause her any more pain.

When it started to get late, Micah helped his girlfriend change into her most comfortable pajamas before slipping into bed with her. They cuddled quietly for a bit, with Micah lightly brushing her hair with his hand. She had a tight grip on his other arm and wouldn't let go, and was kissing the back of his hand. They laid there like that for awhile, not really talking or anything. Elsa knew just how loved she was, and it made her feel happy and safe. She knew that no matter what, when Micah held her, no harm would come to her. It helped melt away all her fears.

"What's on your mind, baby?" Micah asked as he ran his hand through her hair.

"Mostly that I am enjoying the attention that I'm getting from you," Elsa admitted. "I love whatever you're doing to my hair. I love the kisses on the back of my neck. I love the embrace you always have on me when we lie here and just enjoy one another. You have no idea how much all of this means to me."

"I just want to take all the hurt away. Both the physical and the emotional. I want to help you forget all the horrible things that have happened to you. Like what your father did. I so desperately wish I could take all of that away. Help you heal."

"You do help me, sweetheart. Just being here with me is enough. I've told you before that I don't deserve you. You are far too good to me. But I love it anyway. It means the world to me that you love me. For so long, I thought you didn't and couldn't. It made me so miserable to believe that my love for you would never be reciprocated. That you could never love me the same way. I am glad I was so wrong."

"Yeah, me too. I wanted to tell you so many times, and almost did. But I was a complete coward. Hell, the night I finally did tell you I was so scared that you had changed your mind that you would turn me away. But you didn't. I know how much you love me. You've shown me. I just hope I've shown you."

"You have. I know how much you love me too. I hope that we can share that experience again soon. Hopefully I'll feel better in a day or two, because I really don't want to wait."

"Well, we don't really have to. I can be super gentle," Micah said with a wicked grin.

"Nice try, dork. I'm not feeling good enough right now. Although I can open my eye a bit more now. It's not even blurry anymore. Oh, and I remember a lot more of what happened."

"You do? That's great!"

"Yeah," Elsa said. "I remember that I let the person in, and they chased me up the stairs to the end of the hall and grabbed me by the hair, then threw me down to the floor. Then they slammed my bedroom door shut, locking Ellie inside. They picked me back up and slammed me against the wall, knocking the picture frames down and breaking everything. I managed to break away and locked myself in the bathroom and started screaming. They started kicking the door until the door frame broke and it opened, then they started punching and kicking me as hard as they could. I don't know how long that went on for. Eventually I passed out, then woke up at the hospital. I was frightened and everything."

"Can you remember who it was? What they looked like? Anything?"

"I think they wore a mask, because all I could see were the eyes."

"Damn it. That doesn't help us at all."

"I know. It might not be a mask, because they are still kind of blurry. But I hope it clears up soon, because I've been trying like hell to remember."

"Well, you're doing a great job," Micah assured her. "I hope you can remember soon though. I want to catch the bastard and make them pay."

"The only thing I can say," Elsa said, "is I feel like I know the person. But I have no idea for sure."

"You think you know who it was?"

"No, I mean I think it was someone I was familiar with. Someone I have met before."

Micah hummed to himself. It was alarming that she would even think that. "Well, we'll worry about it more when you can actually remember what the person looks like. There's no point in getting stressed out about it."

"Do you want to go out?" Elsa asked suddenly.

"Where would we go?" Micah said, surprised.

"Why don't we catch a movie? Or go get ice cream or something. Anything. I just want to go do something with you."

Micah chuckled at her sudden urge. "Well, we can go to the store and get you some chocolate and ice cream if you want. I want you to be comfortable and happy as much as possible. That means spoiling the hell out of you."

Scooting in as close as she could, Elsa laid her head on his chest and let out a sigh of content. She was incredibly happy as it was. "You don't really have to do that, you know. I'm not complaining, I just don't want you thinking that all I want is you waiting on me hand and foot. Besides, the best thing you can give me is cuddle time."

"Well, you can certainly have as much of that as you want. I'm not going anywhere."

"Good. I wasn't going to let you leave anyway. If I had to tie you up and drug you to keep you here, I was ready to do so."

"That's a little creepy, Els."

"Then don't think about leaving and I won't have to do it," she said with a grin.

"Are you feeling up to going online or something?" Micah asked.

"Let's go out and get junk food, then we can come back and snuggle in while we watch a movie or something. Or we could see if the others are online. Whichever. I just know that I want my sweets," Elsa demanded.

"Alright, let's go then. Do you feel like changing?"

"Hell no. I'm comfy. I'm staying in pajamas. People will just have to deal with it."

"I like this new Elsa. Confident and sassy. It's pretty sexy."

"Wait, you think I'm sexy?"

"Well, of course I do. I've told you before."

"No, you've never called me sexy. Beautiful, yes. But never sexy," Elsa said.

"Really? Huh. I could have sworn I have," Micah replied. "Well, you are damn sexy. Even with your face beaten inwards."

"Gee, thanks. Jerk."

00000

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Hey girl! How're you feeling?_

They had gotten back from the store with three different types of ice cream and four different bags of chocolates. They also picked up some Cherry Pepsi, since Elsa was in the mood for something different. It surprised both Micah and Anna, whom they had invited along with them. They also picked up a frozen pizza to snack on when they got hungry for actual food. It was a Hawaiian style pizza, one of Elsa's favorites. She loved regular pepperoni more, but she was feeling in the mood to completely change up everything. Between the soda and pizza, her sister and boyfriend weren't sure if the concussion didn't really screw with her head after all.

She had sat back down on her bed, wrapped her blanket around her like a cloak, and had her laptop up and running. Micah was beside her with his, and Anna had decided to camp out with them in the room with her laptop as well. They had a movie on in the background, one of the Lord of the Rings films, and Ellie was on the floor with Anna getting some much wanted attention.

 _Frosty Soul: Hey Rose. I'm feeling a lot better now that I have my junk food. Micah spoiled me and got me all sorts of stuff._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Tell that boy that he's doing a good job. Also, tell him I'm sorry for how I acted at the hospital yesterday._

 _Frosty Soul: Don't worry. He knows you didn't mean it. Everyone was just stressed out. But you guys don't need to worry anymore. Micah hasn't left my side since I got home. Everyone has been really considerate and everything._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Glad to hear it. How's your eye doing? It looked really bad when I last saw you._

 _Frosty Soul: Much better. I can actually open it almost all the way now. The swelling has gone down a lot. The ibuprofen the doctor prescribed me is working very well. I also have some codeine with Tylenol in it to help me sleep with the pain, but I haven't needed it at all. But it's there just in case. Everything should be back to normal in a couple weeks. I think by Sunday I'll be fine._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Okay, well, you just make sure to take it easy. I need that brain of yours rested up so we can figure out who the bastard is that did this._

 _Frosty Soul: How come Kristoff isn't online?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Well, because he wasn't able to babysit yesterday like he was supposed to, he got stuck doing it tonight instead. So he's over at his cousins' place watching them. He said he'd be back on around 10 pm or so. So roughly twenty minutes._

 _Frosty Soul: Okay. Maybe we can all do something when he gets online._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Yeah. Oh, I ended up downloading World of Warcraft after all. After you guys were talking about it last week, I got curious. I started and made a Troll Hunter. I don't remember what server I'm on though. But you should all join me on the Horde side. There are a bunch of restrictions on trial accounts, but if we enjoy the questing and all that nonsense enough then we can go to a full paid subscription and play that way. Then we can trade and join guilds and all that stuff._

 _Frosty Soul: So much for not wanting to play an MMO._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Shut up._

 _Frosty Soul: So, Micah said something to me that he hasn't said once since we've been together._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Yeah? What's that?_

 _Frosty Soul: He called me sexy._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: See? I told you, blondie. You're hot as hell. If you weren't with Micah, I'd totally make a move or two on you._

 _Frosty Soul: Thanks, I think. I don't know how I'd feel about that, to be honest. I've never really thought about that sort of stuff before._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: I'm just teasing you. I know you're not into girls. It was a joke._

 _Frosty Soul: Well, to be honest, I've never thought about it before. I mean, I suppose it could be possible, but I wouldn't know. But I'm happy with Micah, so there is no need for me to even consider it._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: I know you guys are happy. Why do you think I busted my ass in trying to hook you two up? Also, where the hell is he?_

 _Frosty Soul: He's right next to me, but he's watching a video of something. I'm not sure what. He says he'll be online in a few minutes though._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Alright. Anna isn't on either it looks like._

 _Frosty Soul: She's sitting on the floor with Ellie. She said she's waiting for Kristoff to text her before she gets on the computer. Why that matters, I have no idea._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Well, whatever I guess. How's the memory thing going?_

 _Frosty Soul: Good mostly. I can remember most of what happened. I just can't remember who it was that did it. They're still a blur. There are small snippets that are still blurry too, but I know what happened for the most part, so that's okay. But it's weird. Like I told Micah, I get this feeling that I know the person that did this. Like, it's someone I'm familiar with. But I can't figure out who._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Well, there is only one person in your past that might consider doing something like this._

 _Frosty Soul: You mean Jeremy? I don't know. He's an asshole and violent for sure, but I don't know if he is stupid enough to try a home invasion like that._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: But what about the voicemail? That should send off red flags right there._

 _Frosty Soul: Let's just say it was Jeremy. How do we prove it? There's no evidence._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: As far as I'm concerned, your memory will be enough. If it was him, we're not going to the cops. We're sending Micah and Kristoff after him._

 _Frosty Soul: I don't think that's a good idea, Rose. I don't want to see them get in trouble either._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Do you honestly believe that he would go to the cops? Or have the evidence to bust them? Micah and Kristoff are not stupid, and neither are we._

 _Frosty Soul: And what if it happens and they choose to look through our internet history? Our Skype conversations, like this one? There's a trail there that would convict all four of us. Even if Jeremy is the one that broke into my home and beat the hell out of me, he has just as many legal rights as I do._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: It's too bad you guys don't have any surveillance cameras there. That would be helpful. Then we could prove it was the bastard._

 _Frosty Soul: I'm not willing to jump to conclusions just yet. My feeling about it might be completely off. There is a very real possibility that it was just a regular break-in and burglary gone wrong._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: You and I both know that that isn't the case here._

 _Frosty Soul: I don't know what the truth is right now. Not until my memory comes back fully._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Well, I'm positive I know who it was, but I'll wait for you to confirm it later._

 _Frosty Soul: Okay. So, about the server you're playing on._

00000

It was almost 2 am before anyone started to fall asleep. Anna had trudged back to her room about thirty minutes ago, leaving Elsa and Micah to themselves. They had both just logged off their computers for the night, and were getting ready for bed. They weren't particularly tired, but they didn't want to wake up at noon and have missed the entire day.

Micah had stripped down to his boxers, mostly at Elsa's request. She preferred it when he slept shirtless, since it gave her a chance to get as close as possible and enjoy his warmth. It just made it easier for her to sleep at night that way. The nightmares had come all week long, but she was in such a good mood after the day she'd had that she doubted any would disturb her this time. So, when she snuggled into him, she wrapped her legs around his and had an almost death-tight grip on him. Micah didn't mind though. Any attention from Elsa was worth it.

Once they were tucked in and the light was off, they laid there and kissed. Micah made sure to be as careful as possible, since Elsa's lips were still hurting. She didn't care though. What she wanted was his lips on hers, and the pain could just be dealt with as it came. But regardless, they were gentle kisses, and she was happy with that.

Elsa was drawing random circles and other shapes on Micah's chest while smiling to herself. There was no word to describe the feeling she had in her heart. It was stronger than any emotion she'd ever had, except for that night when they first made love. Nothing would ever be better than that. There was a chemistry between them, however, and it did things to her that nothing else had ever come close to doing. Right then and there, she had found peace. She was safe from harm, she had been spoiled more in one day than she had been her whole life, and the love of her life hadn't left her side almost all day long. If she could be perfectly honest with herself, there was only one thing he could do that would make her even happier than she was right then, but that would have to wait for awhile. Possibly until after college. But it was something she couldn't wait for.

"What's on your mind, baby?" Micah asked as he gently stroked her platinum hair.

"Just thinking about how happy I am," Elsa said. "How about you?"

"I just want you to feel safe, and to know I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to stay right here beside you for as long as you'll let me."

Elsa lifted her head just enough to place a kiss in the center of his chest. "Then you're going to be there for a very long time."

"I'm perfectly fine with that. I do have a question though."

"You can ask me anything. You know that."

"Do you see yourself growing old with me? Or starting a family?" he asked.

"Yes," she answered honestly. "I have for a very long time, even before we got together. Only I didn't think I'd ever be given the chance. Why?"

"I want to have kids. With you, I mean. I know that's a ways away, if it even happens, but you're the one person I want to have children with. I think I'd make a good dad, and you'd be a great mom. I just don't know how touchy of a subject that is for you, considering what happened."

"You mean the abortion?"

"Yeah. I didn't want to just say it and upset you."

"Sweetheart, it's okay. I'm trying to not be as sensitive about it with you. It's something that happened, and I have to just face it. But yes, I want to have your children. I don't know when that urge began, but it's been there for a while now."

"That's good to hear. I was afraid that you'd say no."

"Why would you think that?"

"Because of the, um, abortion thing."

"Micah, that isn't going to make me not want to have children, least of all your children. It was just a very bad situation that I didn't have much of a choice in. Besides, making babies with you will be a lot of fun."

"I really, really love this new Elsa. She's sexy as hell and dirty," he said with the biggest grin he could manage.

"In a couple days, when I'm feeling better, I will show you that other surprise I promised you."

"Oh? I can hardly wait."

She laid there in the dark and smirked to herself. The things she wanted to do and try with him were a bit more than she had ever expected. Things she had never dreamed of doing before. Rose had finally broken her. Ever since she downloaded that app onto her phone, Elsa had been planning to try her best to enjoy at least a few of the things it suggested to her. She was also pretty sure that Micah would enjoy every second of it.

Elsa raised herself just enough to give Micah one final kiss before snuggling back in and waiting for sleep to take over. There was so much on her mind, all good things too, that she couldn't really shut her mind off so she could sleep. She was too excited. To learn that Micah truly wanted to have a family with her, to have children with her, was a very big deal to her. This meant more to her than it probably should have. To her, it meant the world.


	32. Chapter 32 - Art Appreciation

**A/N: I know what you're thinking. It's not Friday. Well, I decided to just upload today for no real particular reason. I'm a little excited with this chapter simply because it slowly starts a whole new story arc, as well as it's just a fun chapter overall. No drama, just like I promised before. It'll be a bit before the drama returns. So enjoy these wonderful little bits of happiness!**

 **Also, I'm still taking suggestions and such for when the gang reaches college. So if any of you have any ideas, please leave them in either the reviews or private message me. Either one works. If you're a guest and don't have an account, you can still post a review anonymously. It's fine. But I really am encouraging you guys to do this. I want this story to really have a life of its own(as if it didn't already), and I think with feedback and input from you guys on what you'd like to see would really help out.**

 **Okay, enjoy the fun.**

 **Chapter 32**

 _Art Appreciation_

A couple days had passed, but Elsa had no luck in remembering the rest of the attack. She knew there were still parts she couldn't remember, because there were time lapses that she couldn't fully explain. She was confident that she remembered most of what happened. The really big hole in her memory was who was responsible. No matter how hard she tried, there was just this blur of a person. There was no real rhyme or reason to why this person was so difficult to identify. It frustrated her, and it was apparent to Micah and the others just how much it was bothering her.

Sunday was one of the hottest days of the summer, and it was sweltering. It was in the high nineties, there was no breeze, and it wasn't even noon yet. The forecast said it would be like that the rest of the week. It made Elsa wish she had an A/C unit in her room. Instead she was stuck with a box fan mounted in her window set to full blast.

She was sitting on her bed in a pair of shorts and a tank top. Normally she didn't dress like that, but it was so hot that she couldn't handle her normal clothes. Micah had gone home to check on his mother and to get a fresh change of clothes. He had finally decided to start moving some of his stuff into Elsa's room, since they were always together there and her room was spacious enough that it wouldn't feel cluttered. It was fine with her. In fact, she was thrilled that he was doing this. What she really wanted to do was live with him, and that was the ultimate goal. She prayed that her mother would allow him to move in for the school year. That would be amazing in her opinion.

While she was waiting for him to return, she was online doing some shopping. Even though they had already celebrated his birthday together, she still wanted to get him something. She just didn't know what. He already had all the games and music he wanted, he had enough clothes that he didn't really need anymore, and they shared so many of the same interests that it was difficult to choose something. At first she thought about getting him a pair of sunglasses, but then thought that that wouldn't really be useful for most of the year. He didn't wear hats, so that was out of the question.

It was beginning to frustrate her, because she had no idea what to get him. Nothing really spoke to her, and all the stuff she did look at was stuff he wouldn't really be into. At least, nothing she had looked at so far. Then she thought she'd look at imports, since there was some stuff he liked that wasn't readily available at the stores. That was when she had a great idea.

Micah was really into Monster Hunter. It's where he got his Skype screen name after all. There was a company that made miniatures for the franchise, and she thought that he would absolutely love to have one of those. As far as she knew, he didn't have any. The import prices weren't cheap, not to mention the initial prices of the figurines, but she didn't care. She had more than enough money saved up for it, so she ended up choosing the male hunter model and selected the fastest delivery option. It was pretty expensive, but it was totally worth it in her eyes.

With that out of the way, Elsa decided to hop onto Skype and see if her friends were online. Luckily they were. They didn't seem to bombard her with messages at the first sight of her being available though.

 _Frosty Soul: Hey guys._

Nobody answered right away, which didn't really surprise her much. She figured they were busy. Kristoff and Anna were probably messaging one another, and Rose was most likely drawing something. She had recently gotten a digital art pad for her laptop, and was loving it. It wasn't one of the top of the line ones, but it was a pretty good one nonetheless.

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Oh hey girly. I almost didn't see your message. Enjoying the heat?_

 _Frosty Soul: Not particularly. I prefer winter. I love watching the snow fall._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: You are such a hopeless romantic. Well, maybe not hopeless anymore. You have the man of your dreams now. By the way, where is he?_

 _Frosty Soul: He had to run home and get a few things. He's essentially moving in, at least for the summer. I'm going to try and convince my mom to let him stay here during the school year too. It shouldn't be too difficult to do._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Ooh, moving in together. I like it. How are you feeling, by the way? Is everything returning to normal?_

 _Frosty Soul: Yeah, sort of. The pain is a lot less now, and the swelling around my eye has gone down so much that it's barely noticeable. The ibuprofen has really been working, as has been icing it. My eye itself is back to normal. The bruises are all still there, but they don't really hurt at all anymore. My hands feel fine now that everything is back in place. I don't have to have any bandages on them at all now. Overall, I'm recovering much faster than I had ever expected._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Yeah, it sounds like it. At the hospital, the doctor made it sound like you'd take weeks to recover. You heal fast. But what about that memory of yours? Remember anything else yet?_

 _Frosty Soul: Not yet. There are still gaps in my memory, but I'm pretty sure I have most of it down. I'm still no closer to remembering who it was though. I may not ever remember. Either that, or I need something to jog my memory. But what that would be, I have no clue._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: That's okay. We'll get you there. I'm still positive it was Jeremy._

 _Frosty Soul: I don't think it was. The voice was nothing like his. But I swear I recognize it from somewhere._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Wait, you remember the voice now? When did this happen?_

 _Frosty Soul: Last night. I thought I told you._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Hell no. Think I'd forget something like that?_

 _Frosty Soul: No, I guess not._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: So you think you recognize the voice?_

 _Frosty Soul: Yeah. I kind of remember some of what was said. Though it might indicate that you are right after all._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Details girl. Now._

 _Frosty Soul: Okay, let's see. I remember that when I first opened the door, he said "Surprise bitch." That's when he tried to hit me, but I ran up the stairs after he forced himself in. Then there is some inaudible talking, and I've been unable to figure out what it is he said. But when I got to the end of the hall and screamed, he said "This is what you get" before pulling my hair and throwing me to the ground. After I locked myself up in the bathroom, he said something about "sends his regards". I can only assume I'm forgetting the name, because it's kind of muffled. At least, that's how it all sounds in my head. Kind of like a tape recorder or really badly recorded home video. I don't know why the name or the identity of the person that attacked me is so damn hard to remember. It shouldn't be that way._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: I'm telling you, it's Jeremy._

 _Frosty Soul: But the voice isn't his. I swear I've heard it somewhere though._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Are you sure? Because all of this would fit perfectly with the voicemail he left you. Jeremy was an insane prick, don't forget._

 _Frosty Soul: I know. But it definitely was not Jeremy. If I heard the voice again, I'd recognize it instantly. It's that distinct to me._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Well, I guess we'll find out eventually. Either you'll remember who the voice belongs to or you'll remember the face of the bastard that did this. One way or another, we're going to get to the bottom of this._

 _Frosty Soul: Yeah, I think you're right. One second, I think Micah is back._

Before she could get to the door of her room, she could hear footsteps walking up the stairs and headed straight for her. A broad smile cracked across her lips as Micah came walking in with a duffel bag over his shoulder. As soon as he set it down, she pounced on him and threw her arms around him. She was light enough that he was able pick her up and hold her as she wrapped her legs around his waist.

"Well, hello to you too," Micah said with a grin.

"You were gone longer than I expected," Elsa pouted.

"Yeah, sorry about that. My mom got to talking to me... about us, actually."

"What? Why?"

"She thinks we might be spending too much time together," Micah said as he set her back down. "That and she misses having me at home. I almost got into a fight with her, but I kept my cool."

"Oh. I didn't think your mother would have a problem us. Does she?" Elsa asked nervously.

"No, it's not that. She just thinks we might be overdoing it and not giving each other the space we need. I mean, we do everything together. Always have. But us being in a relationship has been different. Not that I agree with her, but she's kind of right. We don't ever really take a step back and breathe."

"I haven't wanted to take a step back though," Elsa said defiantly. "If I did, I would have by now. Besides, what about everything since the attack?"

"She said that's different. That it's good that I'm here taking care of you. But she just doesn't want me to wear out my welcome here."

"Not going to happen. Ever."

"Maybe. Anyway, I told her I'm bringing a bunch of my stuff over, at least for the rest of summer. I also told her that starting next school year, it's just going to be us driving back and forth, since Kristoff is going to be picking up Anna. I might have also told her that I'm considering moving in with you."

"You did? What did she say?"

"She mostly laughed and smiled," Micah said. "I mean, she wasn't angry during any of this. She was just trying to make sure that we do things right. But I'm over here so much as it is, I might as well just move in. Your mom doesn't seem to mind either."

"I've talked to my mom about it," Elsa said excitedly. "She's all for it, especially since I got attacked. At least for the summer. She really doesn't like the idea of either me or Anna being home alone. The best part is she's gotten more clients lately, which is a lot more work for her, but it's also great for her business. That means we'll be seeing more money coming into the house. We might finally be able to trade in the Explorer for a newer car. If we get to do that, she said the new car will be mine. But I want it to be ours, so you're going to go with me to pick one out."

"Yeah? When is this gonna happen? And what about our road trips with everyone? We're gonna need to get a big enough car for everyone to fit in, especially with Ellie."

"I don't know when exactly. She just said soon. So that could mean this week or a month from now. No real clue. As for getting a big enough vehicle, I know. We don't even have to get another Ford. There are lots of options. I just want to get something that is comfortable to drive, will fit all of us in it, and will last a good long time."

Ellie suddenly pricked up her ears and jumped off the bed, then zoomed out of the room as fast as possible. Elsa had never seen her act like that before, and decided to chase her down the hallway only to find her hopping up and down at the door. Moments later, Anna and Kristoff came walking in, with Ellie jumping on top of them the best she could, practically knocking the redhead down.

"Ellie, calm down!" Elsa cried as she almost leapt down the stairs. "Sorry guys, I have no idea why she's acting like that."

"It's alright, Els. I think she's just excited to see us," Kristoff said as he ruffled the top of Ellie's head.

"Looks like it," Elsa said with a giggle. "How are you, Kris?"

"I'm great, actually. We just got back from the lake. It was pretty relaxing up there. I think your sister got sunburned a little."

"Gee, you think?" Anna said sarcastically. "I'm turning into a tomato. That's the last time I go anywhere without sunscreen."

"Do you guys feel like going out to eat? I kinda want a burger and fries," Micah asked. "Maybe go to Johnny Rocket's at the mall."

"Ooh, that sounds really good actually," Elsa said. "You guys up for it?"

"Sure," Kristoff replied. "What about Rose?"

"I have her on Skype right now. Let me run back up and ask her."

Before even waiting for a response, Elsa zoomed back up the stairs and to her room so she could hop back onto her laptop to see if Rose was still there. From the looks of it, she was.

 _Frosty Soul: I am so sorry about that, Rose. Micah came back, then Anna and Kristoff got here...it got busy real fast. But we're all going to out to eat. Want to meet us at the mall?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Sure thing, toots. I'll meet you guys at the food court in about fifteen minutes._

 _Frosty Soul: Actually, just head to Johnny Rocket's. We'll be there in less than half an hour._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Can do._

00000

The gang met up at the mall at about 1:30 pm, and got a large booth at the back of the restaurant. It wasn't a very big place, but it was pretty popular and the food was good. It was one of the few burger joints that actually handed out menus, similar to Red Robin, and though the food was simplistic, you couldn't really go wrong with any of it. It was a nice little throwback to the 1950's, as could be told by the photographs and posters on the walls and the music played over the speakers. Even the interior design of everything had that classic American feel to it.

As always, Elsa ordered just a regular burger and fries with a Pepsi. It didn't get much more simplistic than that. The place wasn't super fancy with its food choices, but that was okay. It had exactly what she wanted and that was all that mattered. When they were served their drinks, they all came in those classic glass cups with bendable straws, and the food soon followed. It was hot, almost too hot, which was much better than some of the fast food chains that barely microwaved their burger patties before serving them.

"I love how greasy these things are," Micah commented on his burger. "It's just the right amount of cardiac arrest in food form."

"Yeah, man, it may not be the best burger around, but it's still killer. Pun intended," Kristoff joked.

"God, you guys are dorks," Anna said with a fry hanging from her mouth.

"And yet we love them anyway," Elsa teased. "Sometimes I wonder why, though."

"Hey, that hurts. That cuts real deep," Micah said as he clutched at his heart.

This made Rose smirk. "The truth hurts, loverboy".

Stuffing a handful of fries in his mouth, Kristoff took a big swig from his root beer before letting out an embarrassing belch. Embarrassing for Anna, anyway. "What do you guys feel up to doing after this?"

"We can always head to the park and play with Ellie," Elsa suggested. "I know she'd really appreciate it."

"What if we went to see a movie?" Micah asked. "Does anyone know of any good ones?"

"There's that new The Purge we can always check out," Rose said. She was always up for a good thriller.

"I dunno, I think we've seen all the good ones already," Anna said.

"The 4th of July is just around the corner," Elsa said. "Maybe we should save our cash and go up to the reservation and get some fireworks. It's literally like a week away."

"Hey, that sounds pretty cool," Micah admitted. "But won't we have to stay up on the reservation to light them off and all that?"

"Nobody does that, Micah," Rose said. "How do you think all those house fires start every year?"

"Don't forget that just at the end of the road by the house is a cul-de-sac," Elsa reminded him. "A lot of the neighbors always get together down there and throw a party. We can do that too if you want."

As they were talking, Elsa was feeling pretty good about things. It had been a while since the group had gotten together like this and just went out for food and hung out. A lot of the time, their plans were last minute and not entirely thought out. But a 4th of July party could be pretty cool. For the most part, they always spent the holiday with their families rather than each other, but they intended to make this year different.

"Elsa, hey," Rose called out. "You alright, hon?"

This snapped Elsa out of her thoughts as she realized everyone was looking at her. "Um, sorry, I was just thinking. We should definitely get together for 4th of July. We never hang out during the holidays."

"I agree," Kristoff added. "We can head up to the reservation tonight and get some fireworks for next week. I'll just take Micah with me and we can go grab a bunch of stuff."

"Works for me," Micah said cheerfully.

Once everyone was stuffed and the bill was paid, the gang wandered out into the main part of the mall. They had decided that they'd walk around for a bit, mainly so Rose could check out her favorite book store to see what kind of manga were available. She wasn't really picky at all. She'd read anything from violent stories to cheesy romance tales. Typically whatever series she had started was what she would pick up, unless she found a new one that piqued her interests. This happened far more often than she'd like to admit.

Barnes and Noble was at the south end of the large circuit that made up the mall. It was a decent size by all rights, and even had it's own café inside. As the group walked in, Elsa and Rose looked at one another and grinned. It had been a while since Elsa had been to a bookstore, so she was just dying to check up on her favorite series and see what the latest additions were. Rose, on the other hand, made a beeline straight for the anime and manga section. She had no idea what she was going to find, and didn't really care. All she knew was that her hard earned money was going to be spent one way or another.

The manga section actually took up several rows of shelves, which was surprising since it wasn't super popular in the area. If it were somewhere like in Seattle, or even Federal Way, that'd be different. But not there. As her eyes poured over the volumes of books they had available, she wasn't really watching where she was going when she ran into someone. The moment they collided, the poor person's books went tumbling to the floor in a heap as they got knocked down.

"Shit! I am so sorry! I wasn't paying attention," Rose said as she bent over to help the person up.

Rose stood there with her hand extended, only to find a girl with light blonde hair tied into twin pig tails and dark chocolate brown eyes. The girl was absolutely stunning, at least as far as Rose was concerned. Never before had she actually been unable to think straight.

"Hey, it's okay. I wasn't either if it makes you feel any better," the girl said as she accepted Rose's help back to her feet. "Thanks."

"Oh, uh, here are your books." Quickly, Rose scrambled to pick up the blonde's books that she had knocked to the floor, several of which she actually recognized.

"Again, thanks," the girl said with a smile.

"Yeah. Um, come here often?" Rose asked before she realized what she was saying. She smacked herself in the face the moment it sank in what had left her mouth.

The girl simply giggled at how awkward Rose was being. "Actually, yeah. All the time. Probably at least once a week, maybe more if I read through my books too quick or if I get bored. You?"

"Not as often as I used to. I've been busy with other stuff a lot lately."

"Too busy for manga, huh? Your Attack on Titan shirt says you need to spend more time here."

Rose instinctively looked down at her shirt, completely forgetting what she had thrown on that morning. "Oh, yeah, well, I plan on getting back into coming here more often. I need to."

"Yeah, you do," the blonde said with a smirk. "There's a ton of new stuff coming out pretty soon. I don't know how you're gonna catch up on it all."

"I manage alright. Besides, I spend more time drawing than I do reading."

"Ooh, an artist. I like. What do you draw?"

"Just about anything, really," Rose admitted. "Fantasy, science fiction, portraits, stuff like that. Not really any anime themed stuff, surprisingly. Although I do want to start my own manga someday. Or at least make a comic that follows that style."

"That would be awesome. You totally need to show me what you can do," the blonde demanded.

Scratching the back of her head, Rose looked at he girl nervously before replying. "Yeah, uh, I guess I can do that. I mean, I don't have anything on me right now. Obviously. But, uh, if you give me your number I can send you some pics of my favorites."

"Okay, sure!" the girl said enthusiastically.

As soon as Rose had her phone out, the girl nabbed it from her and quickly added her number to the list of contacts. Before Rose could say a word, the girl handed it back to her.

"The name's Harley. Now you have my number, so you better send me some of those pictures you promised," she said with a smile and a wink.

"Um, uh, I'm Rose."

"I love that name. What school do you go to?"

"Oh, um, Riverside."

"No way. Me too! Why haven't I ever seen you there?"

"I'm not exactly one of the popular kids," Rose said.

"Neither am I. I'm the weird girl that likes anime and comic books way too much. Do you like anime music?" Harley asked.

This instantly made Rose grin. "Of course I do. I wouldn't be such an obsessive nerd about it if I didn't."

"Very true. I think we're gonna get along just fine."

"Yeah, I hope so."

"Awesome. I gotta get going. Nice meeting you. Text me!" Harley said loudly over her shoulder as she headed up to the checkout.

Staring after the girl, Rose blinked several times before shaking her head. "What the hell just happened?" she asked herself, utterly confused.

As soon as she turned around, she saw Elsa walking over towards her with several books in her arms. She looked happy, and was smiling when she approached Rose.

"Who was that you were talking to?" Elsa asked innocently.

"Harley," Rose said, still unsure of what had just transpired.

"A new friend of yours?"

"Yeah, I think so. She wants to see some of my art, so she gave me her number."

This made Elsa grin at her friend. "Oh really? Well that was sweet of her. What are you going to do about it?"

Rose looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "What am I going to do about it? I have no idea. Send her the pictures like she asked. Other than that, I have no clue. What the hell should I do in this situation?"

"Well, if I remember how things worked out with us, you sort of just decided to be my friend for no reason. Here we are, six years later, and we're still friends. Maybe this is supposed to happen? I mean, you guys were talking about your manga and stuff, right?"

"Yeah. Sorry, I don't know what is going on right now," Rose admitted. "My brain is completely confused."

"Confused how? You just got the phone number of a pretty girl. She seemed overly friendly, and took charge from the sounds of it."

"Elsa, I don't think it's like that."

"Then what is it like, Rose?"

"I have no damn clue. You ready to get the hell out of here?"

"Just about. I think Anna and the others are bored out of their minds," Elsa said as she looked over her shoulder towards where she thought the others might be.

"Alright, well let me grab a book here and then we can get going," Rose said absentmindedly. "Oh, also, could you not mention this to the others? I don't really want to have to explain to them what just happened when I still don't really know either."

"Of course. I haven't told them any of the stuff you've told me. The only one that knows about you is Anna, and that was when we were at Ocean Shores. I'm almost positive she hasn't told Kristoff, and I won't tell Micah unless you want me to."

"Thanks, blondie. I appreciate it. Why did that girl have me so damn flustered though?" Rose asked.

"Because she was pretty and flirting with you."

"You really think she was flirting?"

"Rose, I was three sections away and could hear some of your conversation. Now, I'm no expert on this sort of stuff since that's your job, but she was definitely flirting with you. I say you should see what happens."

Rose looked back towards the entrance of the store to see the girl walking out the door. When she returned her attention to Elsa, she could see her friend grinning at her again. "So, you think I should flirt back or something?"

"I think you should see how it goes after you show her some of your art," Elsa told her. "You're really good, and I think impressing her with your talents, along with having the same interests, will go a long way into getting you two to at least become good friends. But she definitely sounded interested in you."

"I remember a time when you were oblivious to this sort of stuff," Rose said teasingly.

"I've spent so much time around you that it's rubbed off finally. Besides, I was mostly just oblivious when it came to me. Plus I never believed anyone could find me attractive or like me that way. I'm just glad I was wrong."

"Yeah, you definitely were. Alright, let's get going. I have some art to take pictures of."

00000

That evening, Elsa was snuggled up in her favorite blanket and her little dragon buddy reading one of the new books she had picked up. She had been reading for a couple of hours, practically ignoring Micah. Not that he minded much. He was busying himself by playing some World of Warcraft with Kristoff and Anna. They had chosen to create some characters on the Alliance side just to see some of the different areas of the game.

Nobody had heard from Rose since earlier that afternoon. Elsa had her suspicions, but she had promised Rose she wouldn't say a word until she was given permission. Keeping her promise was important to her. Although there was definitely a desire to tell the others that Rose finally had a potential love interest. At least, that was what she hoped for her friend. The girl deserved to be as happy as everyone else.

It was nearly 10 pm, and Micah was still on the game. He had been since they got back from the mall. It frustrated Elsa a little bit, as she was craving his attention to a small degree. However, she hadn't done anything to get his attention either. It was her own fault. She didn't feel like being one of those girls that demanded their man pay more attention to them than their hobbies and friends. But, he had been at the computer for over six hours. That's when she decided to rectify that.

Elsa slowly got up from the bed and headed to her dresser, opened one of the drawers, dug around for something, and scurried off towards the bathroom. Kristoff and Micah had helped replace the door and fix the door frame after watching some YouTube how-to videos. On the way, she had to make sure Anna's door was closed and that her mother was asleep. Then she quietly shut the door and did her thing.

Micah hadn't really noticed that she was gone. Ellie was still quiet, probably asleep since she ran around in the backyard all afternoon after they had gotten back, he hadn't heard Elsa leave. He was utterly oblivious. They had been in a Skype call for most of the evening, but chose to end it when Melissa went to bed. The sad thing is, he had also lost track of time.

When Elsa came back, she skipped into the bedroom and coaxed Ellie awake before slowly escorting her out of the room. After she closed the door, Elsa walked over to her boyfriend while swaying her hips as seductively as she could. Then, without warning, forced her way into sitting on his lap, straddling him while facing him. This took him by surprise, and he wasn't sure how to react.

"Elsa, um, what the hell is this?" he asked, confused.

"You have been on that game since we got back. I want some attention now," Elsa said in the sexiest voice she could manage.

"Oh. I see. Well, why didn't you say something earlier?" Micah asked with a grin, placing his hands on her hips.

"Because I wanted you to enjoy the game with our friends. But now I'm being selfish."

She leaned down and kissed the tip of his nose with a provocative smile. Before she could move away, he grabbed the back of her head and forced her back down so he could kiss her on the lips. Then the kiss deepened, and he ran his hands down the length of her body, making sure to enjoy every curve he could. Certain curves enjoyed more attention than others, including her chest.

Then she started grinding against him, something she had never done before. It drove him crazy, and he broke their kiss long enough to smirk at her and grab her bottom. Their breathing became quite heavy, and she rested her forehead against his. He could feel her hot breath on his face, and it smelled of mint. That's when he realized she had on a lovely perfume that he couldn't put a name to.

"Baby, what has gotten into you?" Micah asked. "This most certainly isn't like you."

"I'm really, really turned on and need you, and I wanted to surprise you. But I have something else I want to show you as well," she said teasingly.

Climbing off his lap and walking to the other side of the room by the bed, Elsa stripped off her shirt and pajama pants to reveal some very scandalous lingerie. It was white and lacy, and extremely transparent. It showed every detail of her buxom chest and slender, lithe frame. It made apparent just how shapely her hips were, and how elegant she was in her movements. How he had never noticed before, he had no idea.

The top was loose-fitting and only went down to her waistline, and the thong that she was wearing was almost completely sheer. She had on long, white stockings that completed the outfit, and she was summoning him with her finger. That's when he noticed she had put on the makeup he had fallen in love with.

It took him only a couple seconds to realize just what she was doing before he walked over to her. Then he grabbed her by the bottom and lifted her up, and she wrapped her legs around him and threw her arms around the back of his neck. They started kissing passionately, going deeper and harder with every moment, sliding their tongues across one another with the hunger of a lion after its prey. When they broke free, they stared at one another in a drunken stupor and smiled.

"You are so damn sexy," Micah said as he tried to catch his breath. "This must have been what you were promising me."

"It is," Elsa admitted slyly. "I'm sorry it took longer than it should have. I wanted to heal up and not look like an ogre before showing you."

"You know full well I didn't care about that. I think you are beautiful regardless."

"I know, but I did it for me more than you. I wanted to feel good about myself. Now I do. This actually does make me feel sexy."

"Well, it does the job just fine."

"Now then," she began as she leaned in closer to whisper into his ear, "why don't you take me over to that bed and show me just how sexy you think I am."

"With pleasure," he said with a smirk.


	33. Chapter 33 - Independance Day

**A/N: So, it's another Thursday upload, but I actually have a good reason for it. See, I'm currently looking at moving soon, and I'm trying to find a place so I can do so. It'll be my first condo, which will be pretty cool. But it'll take up most of my day tomorrow, and I didn't want to make you guys wait.**

 **I hope you guys end up liking Harley as much as I enjoy writing her. She's definitely going to work at becoming a regular, so don't worry. This is the part of the story that I try and get everyone involved, even though the story is still technically Elsa-centric.**

 **Anyway, I do hope you guys enjoy the chapter. Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 33**

 _Independence Day_

July 4th, 2016. The holiday had finally sneaked up on the group, and it was rather exciting. At least for Elsa. She had always wanted to be able to spend the day with her friends while blowing up fireworks or watching the light show that the Indian tribes put on every year. It was a great way to just hang out and be silly. Plus, the food was always fantastic.

It was still early in the morning, and neither Elsa nor Micah had bothered to crawl out of bed just yet. They were both incredibly comfortable just snuggling, with her arm stretched out across his belly and her head resting on his shoulder. He had his arm wrapped around her, and they were just sort of enjoying one another's company.

Micah's gift was supposed to arrive any day now, and he still had no idea about it. Elsa had made absolutely sure not to give him any hints that she had bought him anything. She knew he would love it, mostly because it was from her. That was probably all it would take too. But she wanted to make sure it was something he would really appreciate, and what could be better than a miniature from his favorite video game series. There was no doubt in her mind that he would love it. However, if there was some slim chance that he'd dislike it, then she'd just have to find some way to return it. But she knew that wasn't going to be the case. There was just no way.

It was a quarter to 9 am when Elsa's phone made that distinct dinging sound telling her that she had a text message. When she asked for her phone, Micah lazily stretched his arm out to grab it off the nightstand before passing it to her. He had put almost no effort into it, and it just made her roll her eyes.

 _Hey blondie, just wanted to ask if it was okay if I brought Harley with me to the party tonight. It's okay if you say no, but I'd really appreciate it if you said yes. Anyway, get your cute ass on Skype so we can talk._

Letting out a sigh, Elsa had to extract herself from both the blanket and her boyfriend's grasp, climb over him without hurting him or his sensitive parts, and drag herself over to her laptop. She opened up Skype as soon as everything was loaded, but no one was online, which she thought was odd.

"What the hell are you doing on there so early for?" Micah asked through a yawn.

"Rose said to get on so she could talk to me about something. But she's not even on so I don't know what the hell she's doing," Elsa said with a shrug.

"Talk to you about what?"

"Girl stuff."

"I hate that answer," Micah replied.

"Hey, you and Kristoff have your guy stuff," Elsa countered.

"But we don't hide it from anyone. You guys all know our 'guy stuff'. Besides, what can be so important that I'm not allowed to know?"

"Like I said, it's girl stuff. I'll tell you if she ever says I'm allowed to. But I promised her I wouldn't, so there. I'm not about to break my promise to her."

"Well, whatever. I'm gonna go make some coffee. Want any?"

"Yes please."

As soon as Micah walked out of the room and headed towards the kitchen, with Ellie in hot pursuit, Rose logged on and quickly messaged her.

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Sorry about that. I forgot to charge my laptop last night. So I'm currently plugged in and sitting on the floor. Not as comfortable as I had hoped._

 _Frosty Soul: That's okay. I haven't been on long._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Okay, good. So, about my text._

 _Frosty Soul: Yes, it's fine if you bring Harley. I kind of want you to anyway. I want to meet her. I take it you guys have become friends?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Yeah. We've hung out a few times this week. She's pretty cool._

 _Frosty Soul: That's great, Rose! Oh, what did she think of your art?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: She loved it, actually. I've shown her a bunch and she's had nothing but good things to say about almost all of it._

 _Frosty Soul: I'm so glad to hear that. It's good that you're making a friend. What do you think of her overall?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: I like her a lot. She's funny, she's sharper than she first seems, she's kind of bubbly which is something I never thought I'd say about anyone, she's cute, and she gets me so flustered that I can't think straight and I have no idea how she's doing it. Its frustrating but at the same time fun._

 _Frosty Soul: Sounds like someone has a crush._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Shut up._

 _Frosty Soul: So, you're bringing this pretty girl to the party. What are we going to tell the others? They're going to want to know how you guys met._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Yeah, I haven't figured that out yet. I could just tell them the truth. I mean, they wouldn't really question it would they?_

 _Frosty Soul: No, I doubt it. But they don't know you're bisexual. Are you going to tell them?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: I have no idea. I mean, I want to, but I'm afraid it might become a big deal. Like I said before, Micah is the one I'm really worried about. Kristoff not so much. He's too laid back to care I think. But Micah, well, you know how he gets. I'm just afraid he won't want to be friends with me anymore._

 _Frosty Soul: I doubt he'd do that to you. He's more accepting and understanding than you're giving him credit for._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Maybe you're right. I don't know, let me think about it. I might just tell him tonight and get it over with._

 _Frosty Soul: Are you sure you want to do that with Harley here?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Not really, but I do need to get it over with._

 _Frosty Soul: If you want, I can tell him for you. That way it won't be as awkward. Plus I can calm him down before you get here, and talk some sense into him in case it becomes an issue with him. But I really don't think it will be._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: No, I'll do it myself. I mean, there's no reason to hide really. I shouldn't be afraid of my friends. Crap, I'm nervous now. Why am I nervous?_

 _Frosty Soul: Because this is a big deal for you. You're unsure of how you're going to be accepted, and with the way a lot of people still are, it's no surprise. But I really don't think Micah is going to care. But if he does decide to be an ass about it, I'll be there to put him in his place. Besides, I can always withhold sex from him._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: That sounds like advice I'd give you._

 _Frosty Soul: Maybe. But I doubt I could do it for long. I enjoy it too much now._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: The boy has you addicted does he?_

 _Frosty Soul: Very._

She could smell the coffee brewing all the way down the hall, and when Micah came back with a cup just for her, she thanked him and took a sip. It had plenty of creamer in it, just the way she liked it, and it cooled the drink enough to where it didn't scald the inside of her mouth. It wasn't chocolate flavored, mostly because she hadn't ever found a good coffee creamer that was chocolate, so she settled for Irish cremé. It was good enough.

"Oh, I want you on your best behavior tonight," Elsa warned Micah.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because, Rose is bringing a guest and I don't want you making a bad first impression on her."

"Wait, Rose is bringing someone? Who?"

"This girl she met at the book store last week. They bonded over some manga and Rose's art. I think they're sort of friends now."

"I had no idea she made a new friend. Why am I always the last to know?"

"Anna and Kristoff don't know yet either. They'll have to find out tonight when they get here."

"Well, alright I guess. But we're a pretty tight-knit group. I don't see how this girl is gonna fit in with us," Micah said doubtfully.

"I think she'll be fine. Besides, if Rose likes her, then that's good enough for me."

Suddenly, she remembered that she was online with her friend, and when she looked back she saw a couple messages waiting for her.

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Well, good. I'm glad you are finally enjoying it. I know Jeremy almost ruined it for you._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: So it won't be a problem if I bring her?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Hello?_

 _Frosty Soul: Sorry, I was talking with Micah. I told him you were bringing Harley. I also told him to behave tonight, so don't worry. I'll kick his ass if he acts up and he knows it._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Thanks, Els. I mean it._

 _Frosty Soul: Don't worry about it. Just like you, I like to look out for my friends. And if that means putting my boyfriend's life in danger to keep the others safe then so be it._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: I don't know when you became so sassy and sarcastic, but I love it. Your sense of humor has changed a lot too. In a good way, of course._

 _Frosty Soul: It was my New Year resolution. I thought I told you that. I'm trying something new. Besides, ever since the shit with Amber, I've decided to stop being such a pushover._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: That's good. I'm glad to hear it. Also, I hope you don't mind, but I've sort of told Harley about you guys. All of you. But I might have told her some personal stuff about you. I didn't mean to, but it just sort of came up. I'm really sorry if that upsets you._

 _Frosty Soul: I guess it's okay. I mean, it sort of depends on what you told her, but I'm not going to be upset. I just hope she doesn't make it awkward._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: No, she won't. I made sure to warn her about that. It's all very touchy for you, and she knows it. She also knows how close we all are, so she's prepared for some embarrassment. I just really want you guys to like her. Make her feel welcomed._

 _Frosty Soul: Don't worry, I don't think anyone is going to be against her. I do have to ask, are you guys getting close already? It's only been a week._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: I don't know. Like I said, we've hung out a few times. I can't tell if she likes me that way or not. I don't even know how I feel about her. She's cool and all, but I just don't know. I'm just gonna give it some time. Oh, I did find out that she goes to our school, but she's only in eleventh grade. Which is fine. It just means she's a year younger than us._

 _Frosty Soul: That means you'll get to see her all the time once school starts back up. That'll be really good for you._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Yeah, I hope so. Anyway, I'm going to go hop in the shower and then give Harley a call and make sure she's up to going tonight. I'll talk to you later._

 _Frosty Soul: Okay._

Once she was off the computer, Elsa looked over her shoulder to see that Micah was busy playing a game on the TV. It was exactly what she wanted. Then she opened up her web browser and went to her email inbox, found the email with the tracking number for her order, and clicked the link. It said that her package would be delivered the next day by UPS. That was perfect. As long as she got to the door before Micah did, there was nothing to worry about.

After finishing her coffee, Elsa decided it was time for her to take a shower as well. Or both of them, she thought. So, she got up and walked over to where Micah was sitting, took the controller away and paused his game. Then she grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, leaned over, and smashed her lips against his. When she pulled away, he looked dumbstruck.

"Any particular reason you just did that?" he asked, still unsure what she was up to.

"Yes. I wanted to kiss you, and you're taking a shower with me. So get your ass up and follow me to the bathroom," Elsa commanded.

"Yes ma'am."

00000

That evening, the gang all met up at Elsa's as was usual. They were still waiting on Rose and her guest, but the others were already getting things ready for the party. The neighbors had several barbecues and tables for food setup down the street, and kids were lighting off bottle rockets and black cats. The noise level was already more than high enough to annoy those that weren't participating, which was only a couple households. For the most part, everyone else was there.

The barbecues were already cooking up burgers and hotdogs, and one neighbor had ribs going on theirs. The smells were all wonderful, as long as you could separate the food from the smell of sulfur that the fireworks were giving off. Plus, there was the smoke. It wasn't thick yet, but as soon as the sun was behind the mountains the big explosives would be brought out.

Elsa had made a fruit salad to take to the party, and Anna had made sure to have Kristoff take her to the store to grab some soda. As per usual, they grabbed Elsa her favorite drink. None of them could ever figure out why she was so picky, but they didn't question it. It was just something that had always been that way. Anymore, nobody gave it a second thought.

It was after 6 pm when everyone decided to start eating. Elsa grabbed a couple hotdogs and some corn on the cob, doused her dogs in ketchup, and swiped a Pepsi before finding a spot on the curb to sit. The others soon joined her, and everyone was enjoying the free food and the small display that one of the neighbors was putting on. They were making sure to save the more colorful fireworks for when it was finally dark out. That wouldn't happen until almost 9 pm, and even then it would still be slightly light out.

"Any idea when Rose is supposed to be here?" Anna asked around a mouthful of burger.

"No. She said she'd be here though," Elsa told her.

"You could try texting her," Micah suggested. "She's usually not late."

"Well, it's not like we set a time for her to be here. Besides, we don't know where Harley lives, or if Rose had to pick her up or not."

"Fair enough."

"I wouldn't worry about it," Kristoff said. "She'll be here. I want to meet this friend of hers. How did they meet anyway?"

"They met when we were at the bookstore last week. They sort of bumped into one another and just started talking. At least, that's what she told me. I didn't see much," Elsa informed him.

As the night wore on, and it got progressively darker, Elsa started checking her phone every ten minutes or so. She had texted Rose several times, but received no replies. Calling her went straight to voicemail. It was starting to frustrate her, but there was nothing she could do.

Soon the neighbors were bringing out the big guns, starting with some Roman candles. Then they slowly progressed into bigger and louder fireworks. It was almost 8:30 pm, and still no sign of Rose. Elsa was beginning to wonder if they were even going to show up. Rose had made it seem like it was a big deal to her that she get to bring Harley, and now they were a no-show. It was mildly frustrating to say the least.

Finally, at five minutes to 9 pm, Rose's car pulled up outside of Elsa's house. After a few moments of sitting there, she and her guest got out and started walking towards the cul-de-sac where the others were. As soon as they were within earshot the others greeted them.

"About damn time," Micah said with a toothy grin.

"Good to see you too, loverboy," Rose countered.

"We've been waiting for hours," Anna said, annoyed.

"Yeah, sorry about that. Traffic is hell, especially up by the reservation. Plus we stopped and got some food."

"Why? There's a whole barbecue going on over here," Kristoff reminded her.

"Oh, um, well, Harley is vegan."

"Oh."

"It's good to finally meet you, Harley," Elsa said as she stood up, dusting off her pants.

"It's great to meet you guys too! Rose has told me all about you guys," Harley announced enthusiastically.

"Right, I should probably introduce you guys properly," Rose reminded herself. "Everyone, this here is Harley. Harley, the lovely blonde right here is Elsa, the punk with the scraggly brown hair is Micah – they're together – the big, burly guy over there is Kristoff, and then the spunky and lovable redhead is Anna. They're also together."

"Oh okay. You guys look way different than I imagined. Not sure why though. Oh well! It's awesome to meet you guys!" Harley exclaimed.

"Oh hey, it looks like they're gonna start setting off some of the big stuff here in a bit," Micah said.

"Did we miss much?" Rose asked as she took a seat next to him.

"Not really. Mostly just the small stuff. A lot of black cats."

As if on cue, the neighbor that had been shooting off most of the big stuff brought out a giant tube with a what looked like a large ball with a fuse. Lighting the fuse and dropping it into the tube, the guy ran back fast as the shell went off and shot up into the air, setting off a series of multicolored lights in the night sky. Each one would end with a loud pop, and it lit up the entire cul-de-sac.

Finally, Kristoff and Micah grabbed the stash of fireworks that they had purchased a week ago. They had made sure to get some of the big stuff as well, and one of the things they made sure to grab was basically a mortar, not dissimilar to the one that they just watched. The air was acrid and smoky, and Harley started coughing.

"Are you alright?" Elsa asked with concern, as the poor girl sounded like she was having trouble breathing.

"It's her asthma," Rose told her. "Sweetie, where's your inhaler?"

"Back...in...the car..." Harley gasped.

"Shit. Okay, come with me." Rose grabbed her by the hand and led her back down the street to her car.

Elsa watched as they walked, and immediately felt bad for Harley. But then she thought she saw them walking hand in hand, but it was dark and hard to see. If she did see what she thought she saw, she was happy for them. Even if they weren't, she was glad to see Rose making a new friend, one that could potentially be a good addition to the group. If she was anything like the others, she was nerdy enough to get along just fine with them. If she stayed around that is. Hopefully that would be the case.

They were gone for a little bit, but not that long. When they came back, Harley looked much better. She seemed to be back to her happy self. That was something Elsa noticed about her right away. The girl was definitely bubbly like Rose said. She was also very friendly. The little time they had to talk during the fireworks display showed that she was energetic and excitable. It seemed like she was going to be good for Rose one way or another. At least, that's what Elsa believed.

"All better?" Elsa asked as they rejoined them for the light show.

"Yeah, much," Harley replied with a smile. "I am so sorry about that. I didn't mean to leave it in the car. Normally I have it in my purse."

"It's fine, Harley. Relax," Rose said as she rubbed the girl's back. "Hopefully that won't happen again. Do you want to stick around for more of the fireworks? I think they still have a bunch."

"Of course I do! Are you kidding!? I love fireworks!"

"I think you'll really like the next one then," Anna said as she stood up to join them. "Kristoff said this is the biggest one they have. He also said it's pretty loud."

"Awesome!" Harley said giddily.

Elsa and Rose exchanged looks, both of them grinning at one another. Harley was definitely an enthusiastic person. The moment the fuse was lit, she started hopping up and down as she prepared herself for the light show. With a thunderous boom, the tube got knocked over as the shell shot up into the sky, and blew up into dozens of sparks of every color imaginable. Harley was clapping excitedly, and the others couldn't help but laugh.

"I think I'm going to wait to tell Micah and Kristoff," Rose said into Elsa's ear. "I don't think tonight is a good time to do it. The mood doesn't feel right."

"It's up to you, Rose," Elsa responded. "I will support whatever you decide to do. What are you going to do about her though?"

"I don't know yet. Not entirely, anyway. I'm going to give it more time before I say anything to her. But I definitely feel a connection there."

"I hope it works out for you. I really do."

"Thanks, Els. That means a lot."

After a bit more of watching the fireworks, the gang decided to call it a night, and headed back to Elsa's house. Their ears were ringing, their clothes smelled of sulfur, and they were all still wide awake. It was nearly 11 pm, and none of them could go to bed right away if they wanted. Once they were back at the house, they all headed upstairs to Elsa's room to hang out for a bit.

"So, this is a thing we do," Rose told Harley. "Elsa's room is like our hangout spot. We've had a lot of good times in this room."

As she looked around at all the posters and stuff lining the shelves on the walls, Harley's mouth started to hang open as if she were mesmerized by everything. "Whoa, your room is super cool! I don't recognize most of the bands though. But you have such a wide selection that it's incredible! And all the little odd things you have on your shelves is totally neat. Ooh, is your dog friendly?"

"Very," Elsa assured her. "She's also incredibly lazy, but she's a real sweetheart."

"What's her name?"

"Ellie."

"That's a cool name. Does she do any tricks?"

"Only if you count laying around as a trick," Micah teased.

Elsa instantly socked him in the arm, earning her a yelp from him, and laughter from everyone else. Micah tried hard to pretend it hurt, but he failed miserably when he cracked a smile at her second attempt to hit him.

"So, what do you like to do for fun, Harley?" Kristoff asked.

"Oh, I love to read," Harley said, "from books to manga and comics. Anime is a big part of my life, and I like to listen to music. Mostly anime soundtracks, with some J-Pop and K-Pop thrown in. I like gardening too. It's really relaxing. Let's see...Oh! I like going out on the lake in my dad's boat."

"Your dad has a boat, huh? How big is it?" Micah asked.

"Um, big enough to fit all of us plus a few more I think. Oh! We should totally go out on the lake sometime soon!"

"You like us that much, huh?" Anna asked, unsure of Harley's sense of judgment.

"Definitely. This is the most fun I've had in a long time! I am so glad I came!" Harley exclaimed joyously.

Rose was grinning like a fool the whole time as she watched her new friend talk as animatedly as anyone she had ever seen. The girl definitely was excited about practically everything. Rose didn't think there was a negative bone in Harley's body.

Eventually, everyone decided to call it a night. As they all said good night to one another, Harley and Rose stopped to talk to Elsa for a brief moment.

"Thanks so much for letting me come over," Harley told Elsa. "You have no idea what it means to me that you would do that."

"You're welcome, Harley. You're Rose's friend, and if she trusts you, then so do I," Elsa replied.

"Cool! We should get together again soon. The three of us. I don't care what we do, but we should do something."

"Definitely."

"Have a good night, Els," Rose said as they walked back to her car.

As she watched her friends all take off, she smiled to herself. It was actually a pretty good day. Nobody fought, Micah behaved himself, and no threats or surprises from anyone's exes. Plus, they had made a potential new friend. Elsa didn't see any downside to the day. Overall, she felt it was a pretty damn good day.

00000

The next day was a stark contrast to the previous one. Elsa woke up with a pounding headache, and her ears were still ringing slightly from the fireworks. Micah was still out cold, and the sun was a little too bright. It was already hot and muggy and it was barely 10 am. When Elsa saw what time it was, she grabbed a pillow and threw it at the clock, as if that would prove something. All she ended up doing was knocking over her lamp and making a bunch of noise.

When she finally crawled out of bed, she set her lamp back to where it was and threw her pillow back onto the bed. Then she looked at her phone since there was that telltale flashing blue light notifying her she had some sort of message. As soon as she turned the screen on, she rolled her eyes at the message.

 _Hey toots, get your sweet ass online. Pronto!_

She loved Rose, she really did, but these early morning messages were already getting a little old. This particular message was sent two hours ago. Way before Elsa had even considered getting up. But, she opened up her laptop and hit the power button before heading to the kitchen for some much needed energy boosting coffee. Her battery definitely needed recharging, and the hot black liquid was the best source of power she had.

After brewing enough for four more cups of coffee, none of which she had planned on sharing, Elsa dumped in some creamer and headed back to her room. Then she jumped online to see what the hell Rose wanted so early. The moment Skype was up she was assaulted.

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Jesus Christ, I told you two hours ago to get online. You can't keep a girl waiting!_

 _Frosty Soul: Rose, it is 10 am. I didn't get to bed until after 1 am. It was hot as hell last night, I didn't sleep all that well, and right now I have a bunch of coffee that needs to be sucked down before I end up killing someone. So I'm sorry that I didn't get on right away._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Oh. Sorry about that. I had a couple questions though._

 _Frosty Soul: Okay?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Is it okay if I add Harley to the group chat?_

 _Frosty Soul: I don't care. She's your friend._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Well, I hope she becomes our friend. I mean, with everyone. She really likes you guys._

 _Frosty Soul: I don't have a problem with her being in the group chat. I think everyone liked her too._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Cool. I was afraid you'd say no._

 _Frosty Soul: Why would I say no?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: I don't know._

 _Frosty Soul: Well whatever. You said you had a couple questions._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Yeah. Um, what do you think of Harley?_

 _Frosty Soul: Well, I think she's great to be honest. She is definitely a little bubbly, very happy and enthusiastic, and she seems to find everything to be cool. I don't know what her home life is like, but I thought it was kind of sad that she found my room to be so amazing. My room is nothing special._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Well, she's an only child, and she doesn't get out much. Not like you and I do, at least. She also admits that she's socially awkward, but tries really hard to not let that get her down. She doesn't have any other friends, and she had a great time last night. People aren't normally nice to her. I don't know if I told you this, but she's something of an outcast at school, kind of like us. She has nowhere that she belongs._

 _Frosty Soul: No, you hadn't told me that. That's really sad. Well, I'll talk to the others and see what they think. But I definitely like her. I think she'll fit in real well with us._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Okay, good. She wants us to hang out soon. Just the three of us. I don't know why, but she really thinks you're cool. I mean, I think so too, but I don't know how she already thinks that without knowing you._

 _Frosty Soul: Rose, you told me I was cool not two minutes after meeting me. Remember?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Oh, right. Okay, so I guess it's possible._

 _Frosty Soul: I don't know what has gotten into you, but you haven't been your normal self since you met her. What's going on?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: I don't know. I have no idea what she's doing to me. She's driving me crazy and I've only known her for a week! Not a bad crazy either. The good kind. The problem is, I'm kind of scared of telling her that I like her. Mostly because I don't even know if she likes girls. I haven't had the balls to ask her. I don't know how you just bring up someone's sexual orientation without seeming weird and prying about it._

 _Frosty Soul: I don't either. But I'll tell you what. We'll get together, and I'll see just how it is she acts around you. If I think she's flirting with you, I'll tell you. If she's just being super friendly, well, I'll tell you that too._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Yeah, okay. That works. Wait, what if she starts flirting with you?_

 _Frosty Soul: Rose, she knows I'm in a committed relationship with Micah. I highly doubt she'll be dense enough to try that._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Right. Okay. Um, I'm nervous again. I really want this girl to like me. Why can't I get her out of my head!?_

 _Frosty Soul: Because you have a big crush on her. I think it's adorable actually. And no, that's not me making fun of you. I fully support you in this, and I will do my best to help you two hook up if that's what you guys want. But, do you want me to tell her how you feel? Or are we going to do this the way you did for me and Micah and keep each other in the dark?_

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Oh, um.. I don't know. I guess tell her only if you find out if she likes me that way. Yeah, that would be best. I'll let you know when she wants to get together, alright?_

 _Frosty Soul: Sure thing._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Oh, and Els? Thanks._

 _Frosty Soul: You're more than welcome._

After a bit, Elsa opened up her email to check for any updates on the package delivery for Micah's gift. There was one new message that claimed that the package was indeed out for delivery, which made her incredibly excited. With a quick glance over her shoulder to make sure he was still asleep, she pulled up the import site that she used to purchase the figurine so she could show her friend what she had bought. As soon as she copied over the link, she got a confused reaction from Rose.

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Okay, what the hell is this thing?_

 _Frosty Soul: Oh, sorry. I thought I told you. It's Micah's birthday present._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: I thought that was why we went to the beach._

 _Frosty Soul: It was, but I wanted to get him something too. This thing cost a lot of money to import._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: I can see that. Well, I think he'll like it. It's from Monster Hunter, right?_

 _Frosty Soul: Yeah, that's why I got it._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Then I think you did just fine._

 _Frosty Soul: I certainly hope so. I'd hate for him to dislike it._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: I sincerely doubt he will._

 _Frosty Soul: Okay, well, it's supposed to be here today. Hopefully it'll show up before too long. I just need to make sure I'm the one that answers the door. So I'll be watching the street like a hawk for the UPS guy to show up. Anyway, I'll be back later. I'm going to go get breakfast._

 _Mikasa Ackerman: Sure thing. I'll be here._

The rest of the day dragged on incredibly slowly, and it was driving Elsa insane. She kept looking at the clock, and every couple of minutes would hurry over to the window to see if the delivery truck was there yet. After a couple hours of watching her do this, Micah started to get suspicious and tried asking her what she was doing. When she didn't answer right away, his suspicions worsened. At about 2 pm she was walking towards the window yet again, but this time he grabbed her by the wrist and dragged into his lap. It startled her, and she tried to act annoyed.

"Els, what the hell are you doing?" Micah asked.

"Nothing, don't worry about it," she told him.

"I don't believe you."

"I don't care."

"You've been acting weird all day. Talk to me."

"I have not been acting weird," she pouted. "I'm just waiting for something."

"Waiting for what exactly?"

"Nothing."

"Elsa, that answer isn't going to work," he said flatly.

Rolling her eyes and groaning at him, she pushed herself off his lap and strode over to the window, only to get super excited seconds later.

"Yay! It's here!" Elsa exclaimed as she ran out of the room at lightning speed. It left Micah completely perplexed.

Not five minutes later, Elsa came strolling back into the room with something behind her back and a big smile on her face. He looked her over and raised an eyebrow, but before he could say a word she walked over to him, leaned over, and gave him a very strong kiss on the lips.

"I know this is late, but happy birthday," Elsa said as sweetly as she could, then placed the box she had hid behind her back in his hands.

Micah looked from the box back up to Elsa and then back to the box once more, a little confused. "Elsa, what is this about? We already celebrated my birthday, remember?"

"I know, but I really wanted to get you something. This I thought you'd like. So hurry up and open it."

Handing him a pair of scissors, Elsa waited impatiently as she watched him cut into the cardboard flaps. She just hoped he didn't damage the gift inside. Luckily, he didn't, and when he pulled out the package from within the box, his eyes lit up and he grinned.

"A Monster Hunter figurine, huh? This is actually really cool. How much did you pay for it?" he asked.

"I'm not telling you. Just know it was totally worth it. You do like it, right?"

Setting the figurine aside, Micah stood up and pulled her into a tight hug, then kissed her gently on the cheek. They both had incredibly dopey smiles on their faces, which could only mean that they were both very happy.

"Of course I like it. This is one of the coolest things I've ever gotten for my birthday. Now I'm gonna have to start collecting them."

"I don't have that kind of money, dork," Elsa teased.

"Well, you better work harder at that then."

Before he could say anything more, Elsa socked him as hard as she could on the arm, earning nothing but laughter from him. Lucky for him, she wasn't actually upset. She was thankful that she got him something that he actually ended up liking, and that there was a possibility that she'd be able to surprise him with more later on. Then she had a brilliant idea to show him just how happy she was. Closing the door to the bedroom, she walked back over to him, shoved him backwards onto the bed, ripped off her shirt, and climbed on top of him. She didn't give him a chance to say or do anything, and any protest he was going to make was silenced immediately with her lips. If the coffee wasn't going to do the trick and wake her up, Elsa knew just what would. For Micah, it was turning out to be one hell of an afternoon.


	34. Chapter 34 - When the Stars Align

**A/N: I know, I know. You guys are either getting really confused or enjoying the early updates too much. This is probably how it's going to be for a while until I find a new place to live. The search is going slow, so I have no clue when it will actually happen. But there's a couple places I am gonna look at tomorrow, so that's why these early updates have become a thing.**

 **Some more good news. I finally got relocated closer to home at work. Before I was driving over 60 miles each way for work. I'd have to leave at around 2:30-2:45 am just to get to work before 4 am, and that was only to make sure I got a parking spot. I didn't start work until 5 am. Boeing doesn't like to give its employees parking it seems.**

 **Anyway, the new location is much closer, about half the distance actually, is a better facility than where I was(I honestly HATED my job before and considered quitting several times, but getting paid nearly $40/hour USD is too hard to pass up...still, it was a shitty job with zero gratitude from the supervisors for your hard work), and the hours are much nicer. I don't have to leave my house until about 4 am now. Work starts at 5 am. It's literally only a 25-30 minute drive from where I am. So yay to me! I start there on Monday.**

 **So, that's my life. You now know more about me than you probably wanted to. But all these changes are for the best. Hopefully I'll be able to get back to uploading on Fridays, since that's honestly my preferred day, but I know you guys don't mind it a day earlier.**

 **Oh, also, for those of you that are Kristanna fans, this is your first taste of the lovely couple having a little time together away from the others. It's not a lot, but it's a start. There will be more time with them, and I'm actually about ready to start writing a story arc centering around them, giving Elsa and Micah a much-needed break from the spotlight. They'll still be there, but the story won't be strictly about them for a little bit. And don't worry, for those of you who are Rose fans(and hopefully will come to love Harley too), those two will have their own story arc to deal with.**

 **But all this will happen as we finish up the current story arc involving Elsa's assailant. I will tell you right now, most of you are right. You know who it was...sort of. I'm going to avoid giving too much away, but the end of this story arc will have a very satisfying conclusion for everyone. We'll also get to see some characters become total badasses. This includes a couple you might not see coming.**

 **Anyway, that's enough from me. Read, review, enjoy.**

 **Chapter 34**

 _When the Stars Align_

Nearly a week passed by before Elsa and Rose talked about getting together with Harley. The three of them decided to do some clothes shopping together, something they've never really done before but thought they'd be girly for a bit and try. They met up at the mall on a Saturday afternoon and mostly just walked around. All they really did was window shop before heading to Hot Topic.

The music was, as usual, something none of them recognized and was slightly louder than it needed to be. The girl behind the cash register had her hair died pink and had piercings all over her face. How one could do that to themselves, Elsa wasn't sure. Rose had several piercings in her ears, including the top through the cartilage, but it wasn't excessive. She had considered getting her nose pierced, but hadn't gone through with it yet. She even thought about dying her hair a different color, or at least adding tips to it, but Elsa told her that she'd kick her butt if Rose went and ruined her beautiful black hair. It was the only time Elsa had ever threatened her.

They all headed directly to the t-shirt section and started pouring over the selection. There were a couple shirts Elsa didn't have that she sort of wanted, mainly a Nirvana shirt from their album 'Incesticide'. It was just the right amount of weird and creepy to intrigue her. The other two were looking through the few anime shirts that were available, but there didn't seem to be any that either wanted. When they were done browsing and Elsa had bought her shirt, they decided to move on.

They didn't really do much more than walk and talk. The main thing they did was tell stories from over the years while Harley listened and laughed over everything. It was amusing, and every now and then Elsa would notice that Rose kept smiling at the girl, and Harley would smile right back. But they weren't normal, friendly smiles. Elsa was pretty sure she knew what they meant, but she chose to remain quiet until she was certain.

At one point, they decided they were hungry and stopped by the food court to grab something to eat. They had to find something that Harley would eat, and luckily there was a Subway in the far corner. That's where they chose to go, and the girl ended up getting a veggie sandwich on whole wheat. Elsa made sure to pay close attention for when she came over to visit again. She made a mental note to make sure that they had vegan food for her for next time. If Harley was going to be her friend as well, then she wanted to make sure that the girl was comfortable and treated right. Not doing so would be a bit thoughtless on her part.

Once they had their food and had chosen a table to sit at, they mostly just watched as people passed by. It was busy, a typical Saturday, and it was kind of fun just to see who would walk by.

"So, Elsa, how long have you and Micah been together?" Harley asked as she took a sip of her drink.

"About a month and a half now," Elsa told her. "It's weird to think that it's already been that long."

"It doesn't seem that long really. But I'm glad that it's working out for you guys. You seem like a really cute couple."

"Oh. Well, uh, thanks," Elsa said, blushing. "What about you? Do you have any prospective love interests?"

"Not sure. I'm kinda working on one, but I just dunno. Not sure that they even notice me," Harley lamented.

"Well, you don't know unless you try. Have you told this person how you feel?"

"Oh no! I don't think that I could! It would be totally awkward."

Elsa flashed a glance at Rose, who was sitting there quietly listening. It looked like she was blushing slightly, but she also didn't look all that pleased with what the blonde was saying. For whatever reason, she was looking annoyed.

"You didn't tell me you were trying to hook up with someone," Rose said after a bit.

"Oh, well, I thought I'd leave it as a sort of surprise. Mostly because I don't know if I'll even talk to this person about it. So really, I'm not trying to hook up with anyone. Like I said, I doubt the person even notices me or knows that I'm interested in them."

Sipping on her drink, Elsa was trying hard not to smile too much around the straw in her mouth. She was getting more and more positive that she knew who Harley was talking about, and wanted to just tell them both to hook up already. But she didn't really have anything concrete to go on.

"Is it anyone I'd know?" Rose asked.

"Oh, no, you wouldn't know him...I mean them. It's someone that goes to our school though."

The slip up was immediately obvious to both of them. Rose suddenly looked really deflated and down, and Elsa was confused. She had been sure that Harley had a thing for her friend, but all of a sudden there's a guy in the picture. Maybe she wasn't really as good at figuring this stuff out as she had thought.

"So, there's a boy you like that goes to our school?" Elsa asked, suspicious of her comment.

"Um, sure. Yeah. They totally don't know how I feel though. Also, I have no idea how to approach this person. Besides, I only just met them."

"Oh, I thought you had met them at school. Where did you meet them at?"

"Um, last week at the zoo. It was a major coincidence."

"At the zoo. Really?"

"Yes?"

"Harley, you never told me you went to the zoo. Why didn't you invite me? I would have loved to go," Rose said, jealous.

"Oh, I didn't think you'd want to go. It's just the zoo. Totally boring and all that," Harley said nervously.

"Are you kidding? I love animals. It would have been awesome to go."

"I'm sorry. Next time?"

Sitting back and watching the two, Elsa was more confused than ever. It was obvious that Harley was lying, but why and about what she didn't quite know. The sad thing was that Rose was actually buying her story. She was right. Her friend really had started acting different around her crush.

"Which zoo did you go to, Harley?" Elsa finally asked.

"Oh, um, Woodland Park," Harley replied slowly.

"I see. I'm surprised you didn't invite Rose. She would have loved to see the aquarium."

"Oh I know! It was beautiful. I would totally go again. Next time I'll take you, okay?"

"Yeah, okay," Rose said as she crossed her arms and pouted.

After lunch, they had to stop by the restroom for Harley, and they ended up waiting a few minutes on her. While they waited, Elsa turned to her friend and frowned.

"I don't know why she's lying to us," Elsa said.

"Lying? Lying about what?" Rose asked. She was still a little miffed.

"About the zoo. Rose, Woodland Park doesn't have an aquarium. That's Point Defiance."

"Oh."

"Come on, the old Rose would have picked up on that in a heartbeat. This girl is really getting to you."

"I know she is. It's driving me crazy! I don't know what to do. Not that it matters. She obviously isn't into me."

"Well, she's putting up a big effort to lie to us. She's covering something up, I just don't know what," Elsa admitted in frustration. "Besides, I'm pretty sure she would have told you that she was going. That's not something you just accidentally leave out of a conversation. Plus, if she actually had gone, she would most likely have invited you. So something is going on."

"Maybe," Rose said. "I don't know, Els. Maybe I'm reading her wrong entirely. I thought maybe there was a chance, but it doesn't sound like it."

She didn't know what to say to her friend. Harley had been acting very strange. It didn't make sense. First she made a mistake and slipped up, then she lied about where she met the guy. Elsa didn't like it at all. Something was definitely up with her friend's crush.

They decided it was time to head home, so they split up and said their goodbyes. As Elsa headed out to her car, she had the strange sense that Harley might actually have a crush on Rose but be too terrified to admit it. Maybe the girl was scared of her own feelings. That was a possibility as well. There was a chance that the girl wasn't out yet, or just wasn't sure of what or who she was. Rose had said that she wasn't sure at one point, but was finally positive of what she felt when she came out to Elsa. So, perhaps Harley needed help coping with it as well. If so, Elsa was definitely willing to help the poor girl figure herself out.

When she got to her car, there was a piece of paper stuck under the windshield wiper. Grabbing it and unfolding it, she suddenly became very cold as she read what was on it.

 _That was just the beginning._

00000

Back at home, Elsa headed upstairs for her room as soon as she got inside, but then she heard crying coming from Anna's bedroom. When she knocked and there was no answer, she let herself in to see her sister laying on her bed in tears. She slowly walked over to the bed and sat down and tried to give Anna's arm a soothing massage.

"What's wrong, Anna?" She asked quietly.

"It's Kristoff. We had a fight," the redhead sobbed.

"Oh. What about?"

"We were talking about this movie we were watching a little bit ago, and he said one of the actresses was really hot. When I asked him what he thought of me, he said I was really cute. So I got upset, and then he asked me what was wrong. When I told him, he got annoyed and told me to stop getting so defensive by his comment. That just pissed me off, then we started yelling at each other, and he just told me he didn't want to see me for a bit and stormed off. That was an hour ago. He won't answer his phone or my texts, and he hasn't been online either."

Elsa tried hard to refrain from laughing, because she honestly thought it was a silly thing to fight over, but she managed to keep her composure and sound sincere. "Sweetie, couples fight. It's inevitable. It's how you handle them that matters. You shouldn't take things so personally, because I can promise you he didn't mean it to be offensive. Kristoff loves and cares about you. He wouldn't say anything to hurt your feelings. Not on purpose at least. Just give him some time to cool down."

"You and Micah never fight," Anna said.

"Oh yes we do. Well, we argue, we don't really fight. Just last night we had a ten minute argument over what movie to watch. It was stupid. The other day we couldn't decide on where we wanted to go for dinner and ended up fighting over that. It's always stupid things. Luckily, we haven't fought about anything major yet. But the day will come, I can promise you that."

"So, what should I do?"

"Like I said, give him time to calm down. He's normally very level-headed, so I doubt he'll be angry for long," Elsa assured her. "But it won't do any good to just lay in bed and cry, as much as you might want to. Believe me, it never helps."

"Okay. Maybe I'll read a book or something."

"That'd be a good idea. Do something to take your mind off the situation for a bit. He'll come around, so don't worry."

After Anna flashed her a sorrowful smile, Elsa gave her a pat on the arm before heading to her room. As soon as she entered, Ellie leapt off the bed and nearly knocked her over while being licked in the face. Once she got the big dog to stop and calm down, she tossed her purse on the bed before hopping onto the laptop to see what Micah was doing, if he was online. He had decided to go home for a bit while she was out, mostly to spend time with his mother. She did remember him saying that he might take Jenny out to lunch, so it was possible that that was what they were doing.

As soon as she was online, her suspicions were confirmed. He wasn't online, which more than likely meant he was still with his mother. It was good of him to spend time with her. They needed some time together, especially since he was almost always with Elsa.

While Elsa was browsing one of the game forums she liked to frequent, she got a message from someone she wasn't expecting.

 _Shinoa Hiiragi: Hey Elsa!_

 _Frosty Soul: Oh, hi Harley. Didn't I just see you?_

 _Shinoa Hiiragi: Yeah. Rose just dropped me off, and I don't know when she's gonna be home. But, I had a question for you._

 _Frosty Soul: Okay. What's up?_

 _Shinoa Hiiragi: What do you think Rose would like for her birthday? It's coming up soon, and I want to get her something special._

 _Frosty Soul: Oh. Well, she absolutely loves art stuff. She just got that drawing tablet for her laptop a couple weeks ago. She really likes it, but I know she still prefers drawing on paper. Rose isn't expensive to shop for either. Just a new set of colored pencils or a sketch book would be plenty for her. But she also loves anime and manga. So, if you want to go that route, I'd find something you think she would like and surprise her with it. She's pretty simple, really._

 _Shinoa Hiiragi: Okay. What do you think of jewelry?_

 _Frosty Soul: I'm not sure. She doesn't wear a lot. She has her leather wristbands that she wears, and her piercings, but that's about it. Why, what did you have in mind?_

 _Shinoa Hiiragi: I found this ring that I really love, and I want to make sure it's something she would like too. The only problem is, I don't know her ring size, and it's not cheap._

 _Frosty Soul: If you like it and you want it to be special, then she'll more than likely love it. Rose isn't really about material things. She's more interested in the meaning behind the gift. You could give her a pair of socks and she wouldn't care, as long as you put meaning to it._

 _Shinoa Hiiragi: I gotcha. Do you want to see a pic of the ring?_

 _Frosty Soul: Sure._

As soon as the image loaded up on her screen, Elsa could see that it was extravagant. At least, for a birthday gift. Clicking on the link to get an enlarged picture, Elsa's jaw dropped. The ring was white gold and had tiny hearts and leaves carefully engraved along the sides. There were tiny crystals embedded into the spaces between. At the top was a small collection of stones that looked like diamond, but Elsa was almost positive it wasn't. It was still a beautiful ring.

 _Frosty Soul: That's gorgeous, Harley. May I ask how much it is?_

 _Shinoa Hiiragi: Oh sure! It's about $1000._

This made Elsa's eyes pop, and her jaw was hanging open again. She wasn't sure it had even closed the first time.

 _Frosty Soul: Um, okay. Wow. Don't you think that's a bit much? It's just a birthday gift._

 _Shinoa Hiiragi: Oh, it's no big deal. I have a ton of money saved up. Plus, you know, allowances._

 _Frosty Soul: I see. Um, don't take this question out of context, but where do you live again?_

 _Shinoa Hiiragi: I live on Snag Island._

That explained it. Snag Island was were the wealthy lived. Million dollar homes were the cheapest there, and they all had a beautiful view of Lake Tapps. The houses were typically rather extravagant, and much larger than they needed to be. She had no idea what kind of people lived there, but Harley definitely didn't come across as a rich snob.

 _Frosty Soul: Oh, that's pretty cool. Do you like it there?_

 _Shinoa Hiiragi: It's alright I guess. Not as cool as your place though. Or Rose's. You guys have such cool bedrooms and all that stuff! Plus you guys are just really cool people._

 _Frosty Soul: Well, I'm really glad you like us. I want you to become part of our group. You're sweet, you're always happy, you're polite, and you just have this energy that makes everyone around you happy. At least, that's how I feel. I just fear that you don't really have the same interests we do._

 _Shinoa Hiiragi: Oh, don't worry about that. I'm perfectly fine with doing whatever you guys do! I'm all for trying new things. But, um, about that ring. Do you think Rose would like it?_

 _Frosty Soul: I think she would love it. But she would probably flip out once she found out how much it was._

 _Shinoa Hiiragi: Oh, well I hope not. I mean, I don't want to take it back. It's already got her name engraved on it._

 _Frosty Soul: Wait, you already bought it? When was this?_

 _Shinoa Hiiragi: A couple days ago._

 _Frosty Soul: Oh. Well, that was sweet of you. I think it will mean a ton to her._

 _Shinoa Hiiragi: I really hope so._

 _Frosty Soul: May I ask you a question now?_

 _Shinoa Hiiragi: Of course you can!_

 _Frosty Soul: Okay. This is going to sound really rude, and I really don't mean for it to be, but I'm very curious for several reasons. Is it still okay if I ask?_

 _Shinoa Hiiragi: You can ask me anything. I'm an open book._

 _Frosty Soul: Alright. Well, um, I was wondering...do you like girls?_

 _Shinoa Hiiragi: I'm not sure I understand the question._

 _Frosty Soul: Of course not. Okay. I'll just be blunt. Are you gay?_

 _Shinoa Hiiragi: Oh! I thought you guys all knew that. But yes, I am. I'm surprised Rose didn't tell you._

 _Frosty Soul: I don't think Rose knows._

 _Shinoa Hiiragi: Oh. Maybe I forgot to tell her. Oops. Why? Do you think she won't like me because of it? Like, she won't want her present?_

 _Frosty Soul: No, I don't think that will be an issue at all. Rose is bisexual. So you have nothing to fear._

 _Shinoa Hiiragi: Wait, she is!?_

 _Frosty Soul: Yeah. Just, the guys don't know yet. She plans on telling them, but she's kind of scared. So please, don't tell anyone. Let Rose do it on her own. Or, better yet, be there for her when she tells them._

 _Shinoa Hiiragi: Oh my god, this all makes so much sense! And this makes it a hundred times easier to give her the ring! See, I really like her, but I was afraid that she wouldn't be into me. That's what I was talking about at the mall. I wanted her to think it was some guy I liked because I was so terrified of telling her how I felt. I didn't know for sure, so I wanted to wait to see how things turned out. But this is great news! Do you think she likes me?_

 _Frosty Soul: If I were to take a guess, I'd have to say probably._

 _Shinoa Hiiragi: Awesome! You rock, Elsa! Thank you so much! I feel so relieved. I totally have to get her a birthday card and say something to her. But what do I say? Should I tell her in the card, or do it in person?_

 _Frosty Soul: I think if you write it down and tell her that way, you can put your thoughts and heart into it, and it might make it a lot easier._

 _Shinoa Hiiragi: Okay. I gotcha. This is going to be great! I think I know just what to say. I hope. I don't want to overdo it and creep her out though. Anyway, I gotta get going. I want to get this all ready for her birthday. Tootles!_

Without further warning, Harley logged off within seconds. She left Elsa smiling and content. The snowy blonde was happy with the results, at least so far. She was positive that Rose would be more than thrilled to receive that gift, and even more so to learn her crush liked her in return. All in all, Elsa called it a success. The best part was she was a part of it. This time she got to play matchmaker, at least to a degree. That is, as long as things actually worked out. There was still time for it all to fall apart. But she couldn't think like that. She didn't want to curse things.

00000

Kristoff was sitting at home stewing. He was still a tad annoyed with how Anna had reacted earlier, and he couldn't figure out why she flipped out. He told her she was cute, which she was, so how that upset her he had no idea. It just didn't make sense. But then, women didn't really seem to make sense to begin with. They were complex creatures, and he was finding that out first hand. It wasn't fair though. He had done nothing wrong.

His phone had kept ringing when he first left, and so he just turned it off to avoid listening to her complaining and fighting. It probably wasn't the smartest thing to do in retrospect, but he really just didn't want to put up with her nonsense at that moment. If she wanted to be unreasonable, that was her problem. Kristoff wasn't going to deal with it.

It was almost 6 pm, and he decided to go for a walk. A quick lap around the neighborhood would probably be more than enough, but just in case, he decided to make it two. The fresh air and exercise would do his brain and his mood some good. He might even consider turning his phone back on, but only if Anna had been reasonable and didn't leave any nasty messages or voicemails. If that were the case, it would just get turned off again.

As he was making his first lap, his mind began to tell him to check his phone. He really didn't want to, but at the same time he did. It frustrated him. He was torn. If he had a coin to flip, that's exactly how he would have decided what to do. But nobody carried money on them anymore. So, in a rash of haste and mixed feelings, he turned the damn thing on and prepared for the scathing hatred that Anna most likely had sent him in text form.

After the thing powered up, he was actually in shock. There were only a couple texts, each one with her apologizing profusely for how she acted and pleading with him to come back so they could talk. The voicemails were almost heartbreaking, since each one had her crying harder than the last. All of them were the same. They were all begging him to return to the house so they could sit down and make up. It was actually rather astounding that it wasn't venomous in any way.

That's when he made the decision to dial her number and talk to her. Things weren't going to fix themselves, and he had to be the bigger person and initiate the conversation. He just hoped she wasn't still crying, because that would just make him feel exceedingly guilty. Unfortunately, as soon as she picked up, he could tell she was still upset.

 _"H-hello?"_

"Hey babe."

 _"Hey."_

"Are you alright?"

 _"No."_

"Do you want to get together and talk?"

 _"Yes please."_

"Alright. I'll head over to your place soon. Then we can go out and get something to eat and talk. Does that sound okay with you?"

 _"I'd like that a lot._

"Okay. And please don't be upset anymore. Everything is gonna be alright. See you soon."

Kristoff turned on a dime and hurried back to his place in record time. He was bound and determined to take her somewhere to help cheer her up, and since he knew she loved teriyaki, that's where he'd take her. It was sort of like her comfort food. That and chocolate. Which seemed to be a girl thing. Why, he wasn't sure.

The moment he was in his truck he was speeding off towards Anna's, ready to pick her up and take her out on a date. He wanted to cheer her up, and he figured the best way to do that was to take her up to the field they had found behind some houses and just stargaze. That was something Anna loved to do. It was a good thing he had that extra big blanket in the back of his truck wedged just behind the seats. He could just unfold it and toss it on the ground, and they could cuddle while looking up at the stars.

Traffic was a little heavy, but not bad. Even for a Saturday evening, things were moving fairly smoothly. He only had to stop a handful of times, and by the time he got there, it was only 6:20 pm. Not bad at all. Then he dialed her number again and told her he was waiting outside. Thirty seconds later, he saw her heading down the steps towards the truck. She had her hair in those trademark twin braids, and a plaid button-up shirt over her white tank top. For being fourteen, she was beautiful.

As she climbed into the truck, he looked over at her and saw her eyes were bloodshot and sad. So, he decided lean over and give her a very tender kiss on the lips. "Please cheer up. We're gonna go get teriyaki then go visit our field. We'll sit and talk, and hopefully make everything better. Okay?"

"Okay. But, before we go, I want to say something," Anna said.

"Why don't you wait until we get our food?"

"Well, it's just, I really love you, Kris. I know we haven't been together all that long, but I do. I'm going to be in high school this year, and I don't want to be alone. I mean, you graduate this year. So that's three whole years I won't be with you at school. So high school is going to be lonely as hell. Plus you're going to be going off to college, and then I'll never see you. How are we going to do this?"

"Sweetheart, we'll figure out a way, alright? But for now, food. Then we can sit and talk and figure all that shit out. I promise."

They drove off to Anna's favorite teriyaki joint, taking only about ten minutes to get there. As soon as they stepped inside, the smell of the food assaulted their senses, and Anna sighed contentedly. She grabbed Kristoff's hand as he led them into the restaurant and ordered their food. Once that was done, they found a cozy little booth to sit in at the back of the place, next to a window that looked out over the street and the passing cars. She was already in a much better mood, and couldn't wait for her bowl of steaming rice and chicken teriyaki to arrive.

"Look, I'm really sorry about earlier," Kristoff said sincerely. "I wasn't really thinking when I said what I did, and I didn't think there was anything wrong with it. But clearly I upset you, and for that I am really sorry."

"Kris, it's fine. I got offended over nothing. I'm glad you think I'm cute. I really am. Besides, you were right, that girl was hot. Maybe someday I can be that for you," Anna said.

"You are. But you do still have some growing up to do. Er, that sounded terrible. I'm sorry."

"I knew what you meant. It's okay. I don't know why I got so emotional earlier. I'm not normally like that."

The only waitress of the restaurant brought their food as quickly as possible, and they devoured it just as fast. Not wanting to waste any time, Kristoff grabbed her by the hand and walked her back to the truck, opened the door for her, and let her in before closing it. For some silly reason, he was making a big show for it, but it brought a smile to her lips, so she couldn't complain.

Soon they were back on the road and headed out towards the foothills where the farmland was. It took just a little bit of time to get there, but it was a nice and quiet drive. The fields of livestock and produce were everywhere, and there was even an alpaca farm, which Anna thought was really cool. With the window down, she could feel the summer night air blowing through her hair, and could smell the countryside. It was much fresher air than back in the city.

After a bit of driving, Anna wasn't sure how long or how far it was and didn't really care, they turned off on a small dirt road that ran north near a pond and a copse of trees. The truck bounced and rattled over the uneven earth, and when they came to a small clearing, Kristoff took the truck off to the side of the road and parked. Reaching back behind Anna's seat, he grabbed a large brown blanket and urged her to follow him. They walked a little ways out into the field and then picked a spot to lay the blanket down. Then they made themselves comfortable and cuddled up to one another while staring up at the slowly darkening sky.

"I love it out here," Anna said quietly as she snuggled as close to him as she could.

"Yeah, it's pretty great isn't it?" Kristoff asked.

"You can already see the moon above Mount Rainier. It's gorgeous."

"What's on your mind?"

"It's nice and quiet here. I have no idea if it's someone's property or not, and I don't really care. It's wonderful. How about you?"

Kristoff stretched his arms out before resting his hands behind his head. "I was thinking about what you said. About me going off to college and not seeing you. I think I told you already, but I'm gonna take the year off after high school. Maybe help my mom with her pottery business. I'm not any good at it, and it's not really 'manly' work, but I think she works too hard and does it all by herself. Plus, if I do go off to college, I might just start with Green River before deciding on a university. If I even go. I haven't quite decided what I want to do yet."

"What about your programming classes? I thought that was going well for you."

"It is, but I'm not sure I want to do it as a career. I dunno. I have a lot to think about. But I am not gonna leave you behind. Maybe after high school we can get an apartment somewhere. It wouldn't be that big of a deal. I might even get hired on where my dad works. Boeing pays good money."

"So does Microsoft, and they're in Seattle and Bellevue. Plus you'll already know how to do that stuff."

"True. But if I want to get on there, I have to go get a degree or two. That won't be the hard part. The hard part will be not going to the same college as you, depending on where you choose to go."

"You don't have to worry about that stuff. Don't wait for me. Like you said, we'll make things work."

"Yeah, we will."

They laid there for several hours, just watching the night sky. The twinkle of the stars captivated them, and the sounds of the night soothed their souls. Anna didn't particularly care how long they were there. She was enjoying every second of it. It was nights like these that she was glad she had met Kristoff. High school started in just a little more than a month, and she was excited. It was going to be the most memorable time of her life. She just couldn't wait to share her first year experience with the man she had come to love.


	35. Chapter 35 - The Perfect Gift

**A/N: Okay, so yesterday was a bust. I thought I was going to be busy, but plans fell through. I guess it just happens that way sometimes.**

 **But that isn't stopping me from being in a good mood. I'm in such a good mood, in fact, that I am treating you to a second chapter for the weekend in celebration of my relocation at work. Now, instead of spending 4+ hours on the freeway each day, I'll be spending maybe 1+ hours on the road. As far as I'm concerned, that's a win.**

 **Normally I'd go on and on about something, but I haven't got anything else to say. So enjoy the chapter.**

 **Chapter 35**

 _The Perfect Gift_

Rose's birthday was only a couple days away, and Elsa was scrambling to find something to get her. She already had all the art stuff she could ever want, and Elsa had no damn clue what anime or manga she liked. There was the option of buying her a gift card for somewhere, but that always felt impersonal and thoughtless. What she needed was a sign of some sort. Something that shined down from the heavens and directed her on what to do. Anything would work.

That's when she found herself at Best Buy of all places. Scouring every nook and cranny for a movie, or music album, or just something that Rose didn't already have that would mean something to her. At this point, Elsa was willing to take just about anything if it meant getting her friend something she would like. There were laptops she could look at, but she didn't have the money for that. The video games section, while large, didn't really have anything the girl would want. Not even the software was any good, as there weren't really any art-related ones available.

Next door was a Pet Smart, which could potentially have something for her friend. But getting someone a pet was kind of cruel and unfair, especially when you had no idea what they'd like or whether they'd want the new responsibility. So that was out.

Across the parking lot was a Barnes and Noble, which was much bigger than the one at the mall, so Elsa chose to go there and see what they had. There was always the manga section she could pour over and hopefully find something Rose would be into. The problem there was Elsa had no idea which ones she already had. Still, she looked over the selection, which was much bigger than what the other store had, and saw a bunch of potential choices. Elsa didn't recognize any of them, and didn't have any clue what any of them were about. There were a bunch that looked like the cheesy romance comedy types, so that's what she went with. One had a cat girl on the cover, but she couldn't pronounce the name. It didn't matter, because as she leafed through the book and read snippets of the dialogue, she came to the conclusion it was just weird enough to entertain her friend.

As she was headed up to the check-out, she had an idea. There was an art section, and they were bound to have books that Rose would just love. So, she made a quick detour and headed for the art books. There were all sorts of options to go through, and Elsa had no damn clue which ones would be best. Rose was already very talented, so perhaps it would be a waste of money to buy her a book that would do her no good. Still, there were some surreal art books that she could grab, and that might interest her friend some.

After a couple seconds of debating, she went ahead and grabbed one of the books and rushed off to the cashier. The line wasn't long at all, and in a matter of minutes she was out the door and driving back home. She just had one more pit stop to make first.

A couple blocks down the road there was a card and hobby store that the gang sometimes checked out. For the most part, they had avoided all the card games that were available primarily because they didn't want to spend tons of money on the hobby, plus there weren't really any that interested them. But that wasn't why she was headed there. She had to pick up Micah, who had stopped there to look at their selection of Dungeons and Dragons books and to buy a new set of dice. He had hoped that he would be able to find something for Rose there, but also wanted to hang out a bit while Elsa did some running around.

As soon as Elsa got there, he was already outside waiting for her. It looked like he had finally found something for Rose, which was a relief. There was very little desire to keep hunting for a birthday gift since they had spent the last several days trying to figure out what to get her. But at least the nightmare was now over.

When he climbed into the car, Elsa realized that he had a few things in the bag that he was carrying. Growing curious, she asked him what it was he had bought.

"Oh, I got her this book of magic artifacts and stuff for her campaign. I thought she'd really like that," Micah said as he pulled the hardback book from the plastic bag.

"That's a good idea. What else did you get?" Elsa asked.

"I got some new dice like I was talking about, and then this card game called Munchkin. I got to play a shortened version of it while waiting for you and it was a lot of fun. Basically, you have two decks of cards. A treasure deck and a monster deck. You can probably figure out what is in each. Anyway, you play as an adventurer that goes into dungeons and kills monsters for loot. The best part is the game is both cooperative and competitive. The first person to level ten wins. The one we played at the store only went to level five though. It was mostly just a demo. But the game kind of promotes backstabbing and making deals with other players to try and work together to either kill the monsters or hinder other players. I thought it would be cool to try with the others. It supports up to like eight players or something, so it'd be perfect for us."

Elsa hummed to herself as she listened to him. "So, wait. Is this like Magic The Gathering where you have to keep buying cards to play?"

"Nope. The whole game comes in the box. There are expansions you can buy that add a ton of new cards, but they're not needed to play at all."

"Well that's cool. I'd be willing to try it out. It sounds like it could be fun."

"That's what I thought too," Micah agreed. "So, did you find anything for her?"

"Yeah, I got her some manga and an art book. Hopefully she'll like them. I didn't know what else to get her."

"Knowing Rose, she probably won't care what we get her. But I'd still feel bad if I didn't get her anything."

"Exactly my thoughts. Oh, it's not going to bother you if Harley is there, will it?" Elsa asked.

"No. Why would it bother me? She pretty cool as far as I'm concerned."

"Oh good. She was kind of worried that everyone would be against her being there. She still doesn't know how receptive everyone is to her, and since she doesn't know us that well yet, she's still nervous."

"She didn't seem like the nervous type," Micah said. "I mean, she seems to just say whatever is on her mind and is super friendly. That doesn't really sound nervous to me."

"Well, I think it's more of a show with her. It's like she tries really hard to be brave in front of everyone so they like her."

"It works. I like her. I hope she sticks around."

"Yeah, me too."

The rest of the drive home was mellow. They mostly just talked about what they wanted to do at the party, since Rose had offered to have everyone stay the night. The only problem was her house, while spacious, wasn't as big as Elsa's, and didn't have the spare bedroom. Her older sister was going to be home for her birthday since she had taken the summer off from school, so that was a room that was going to be occupied. The sad reality was, they might not be able to stay over after all. Unless they went over to Elsa's afterwards, which was more than likely going to be the case. It usually was.

When they got home, they headed to the bedroom and got out the wrapping paper Elsa had picked up the day before. Their gifts were going to be together in the same wrapping to make things easier. Elsa wanted to go all out on it, so she got ribbon and a bow for the present as well, plus a goofy birthday card that she thought Rose would love.

With that out of the way, they decided to settle in and relax for the remainder of the day. Elsa's mom was out with a friend, and Anna was off with Kristoff, which came as no surprise. So the house was all theirs. So, they decided to pop a movie in and sort of watch it while cuddling, which would more than likely lead to much more. With nobody else home, they didn't have to worry about being walked in on. It didn't take long for clothes to be removed and the shades to be shut.

Afterwards, they mostly just cuddled while catching their breath. As usual, Elsa was giggly and Micah was completely content. They didn't give a damn about the movie at all, and knew they wouldn't the moment they put it on. They just laid there, Micah running his hand through her now slightly disheveled hair, and Elsa drawing randomly with her finger on his bare chest. They were always like that after making love.

Eventually they had to put their clothes back on just in case someone came home. While they were laying down and spooning, Elsa rolled over so she could face Micah and nibble at the tip of his nose.

"Okay, what the hell was that for?" Micah asked with a smirk.

"I just felt like it. Deal with it," Elsa mocked.

"That hardly seems fair."

"Well, what are you going to do about it?"

"I could tickle you, since I know you're very ticklish. Or I could put you in a headlock and see what happens there."

"Please don't," Elsa begged.

"I could also suck on your neck and leave the biggest, most embarrassing hickey you've ever seen. Makeup won't even hide it," Micah threatened with a grin.

"Who says I'd complain? You'd be marking me as yours. I kind of like that idea."

"Really? Since when?"

"I don't know. It's kind of a recent thought that I've had. It's hard to explain."

Propping his head up on his upright hand, Micah looked at her with interest and curiosity. "Well, why don't you try?"

"Oh. Well, um, it's just that I kind of like the idea of you being in charge," Elsa said. "You're my boyfriend, my lover, and my protector. I kind of want to be marked as yours so no one has any questions as to who I belong to."

"Wow, okay. I had no idea you were into that sort of thing."

"I know. It's a more recent thing, like I said. I'm not entirely sure where it came from. I just know it feels right."

"I see. Does this have anything to do with what Jeremy did to you?" Micah asked.

"I don't know," Elsa said with a shrug. "I mean, he had me brainwashed into believing a lot of things. But I never felt like his. Not really. But with you it's completely different. It feels like I've always been yours."

"Interesting. You wouldn't be at all embarrassed?"

"No. I'm comfortable with this idea. Like Rose told me, I need to wear it like a badge of honor and pride. So, that's what I plan on doing."

Humming to himself, Micah brushed a stray strand of hair back behind her ear, then leaned over and placed his mouth on the side of her neck. He ran his tongue across her skin, which earned him a soft moan, then he began to suck. He continued tonguing her neck while sucking, and when he finally lifted his head he could see a large reddish-purple mark where his mouth had been. Elsa looked up into his eyes drunkenly, then grabbed the back of his head and forced him down so she could kiss him full on the lips.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"If I had known you'd like that, I'd have been doing it more often," he said jokingly.

"Well, now you know," Elsa replied seductively.

Just then they heard a car pull into the driveway, indicating that her mother was now home. Elsa let out a frustrated whine, even though she knew full well that her mother would more than likely leave them completely alone.

Just like she predicted, her mother went straight downstairs, most likely to the family room, and didn't bother them at all. She didn't even bother announcing her return. It had been that way for years. Melissa left her daughters alone, and they didn't bother her for much. They still did things together as a family, but not like they once did. Although Elsa had mended things between her and her mother, they still weren't great. But most of the time Melissa was working her butt off to get and keep clients, and so the girls knew better than to bother her when she was in her office. Elsa rarely even went downstairs anymore.

"So, what now?" Micah asked as he placed a chaste kiss on Elsa's temple.

"I'm kind of hungry, but I'm not in the mood to cook. Want to go get something?"

"Sure. What did you have in mind?"

"Pizza sounds delicious," Elsa said.

"Alright. I'm driving."

00000

Anna was lost.

She had no idea where to go or what to do, and the map of the mall wasn't helping things any. She and Kristoff had decided it was time to get something for Rose before they ran out of time, but they had no clue what. The girl already had pretty much everything that she wanted. So, finding something for her was going to be very difficult. Anna considered going to Hot Topic and just getting her an anime shirt, but she didn't know which ones Rose already had or which ones she'd like.

Then there was the movie store that had an anime section. They could look there, and they'd likely find something that their friend didn't already have, but it'd be difficult to find something she'd like. Anna thought that maybe she'd like one of the adult ones, considering how perverted Rose had a tendency of being. With that in mind, that's where they headed off to.

It wasn't a long walk to the video store, and the place was pretty massive for being inside of a mall. She didn't know how many movies they had, but the walls were lined from floor to ceiling with DVDs and Blurays. They actually ended up stopping several times to look through different sections just in case they found something that they'd want to watch together later.

The anime section was actually fairly large. The store had tons to choose from, none of which Anna nor Kristoff were even remotely familiar with. They barely knew the ones that Rose already had. But there were plenty of eighteen and over movies to choose from. Kristoff was almost eighteen himself, so he figured that the store clerk wouldn't mind. His birthday was in a month, so he was practically eighteen already.

They found one that looked kinky enough for their friend to be interested in it. It had the cliché French maid character, but with a fox tail and ears. That was something anime did a lot. Nobody knew why it was such a big thing, but it was. The movie was labeled for eighteen and over, so they knew it was something Rose could get into. They just hoped they didn't get her in trouble with her parents. It wasn't very likely as her parents didn't really care about that sort of thing. If they did, she wouldn't have turned out the way she had.

Grabbing the movie and looking through the others, they decided to just grab the one with the coolest name and movie art before heading up to the cashier. Kristoff had his ID out as soon as they were at the counter, but the guy at the register didn't even bother looking at it. He had that look in his eyes that told them that he couldn't be bothered to care anymore than he did right then. Shrugging and accepting the outcome, they walked back out into the mall and headed straight for the food court.

They chose to grab some Thai food, or more accurately, Anna did and Kristoff just went along with it. As they looked for a table that wasn't filthy or wobbly, they saw someone they never thought they'd see again.

"Kristoff, is that Jeremy?" Anna asked as she pointed across the food court.

"I'll be damned," Kristoff said angrily. "I so desperately want to go over and kick his ass."

"Who's that he's with?"

"Probably a buddy would be my guess."

"Should we go over and say hi?"

"No. Why would we do that?"

"To piss him off," Anna said mischievously.

"No, it's best not to mess with him. It'll just aggravate him even more. Although I seriously want to stomp his face into the ground."

"You know he's the one that's responsible for what happened to Elsa, right?"

"Of course I know," Kristoff said. "Everyone does except Elsa. She's convinced it wasn't him."

"That guy he's sitting with is pretty big. Kind of like you. He looks mean too."

"Yeah. Not surprising at all. But I'm still bigger."

Taking a seat at what was hopefully a semi-sanitized table, they ate their lunch in silence, but kept an eye on Jeremy and his friend. They didn't even seem to notice they were being watched, which made Kristoff rather happy. He decided that he was going to have a little talk with the guy after all.

Anna and Kristoff ate their food as fast as possible, then got up and followed Jeremy the moment he started to leave. He walked with his friend for a while before they left the mall, and when they went outside, they were followed straight to Jeremy's car.

"Hey dickhead!" Kristoff called out after them.

Jeremy's head was on a swivel and turned to face them, and then immediately regretted it. His friend looked dumbstruck, and didn't seem to have any idea who they were.

"What the hell do you want?" Jeremy said, albeit slightly nervously.

"Just wanted a friendly little chat, that's all. I mean, after you beat the living hell out of my friend and sent her to the hospital, all I want to do is talk."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes you do. You're the asshole that left that voicemail on her phone. It was your voice. I heard it. You're also the one that left that note on her car the other day. I'm fed up with watching your pathetic ass harass Elsa. You could have killed her, or done permanent brain damage to her. You just can't keep your god damn hands to yourself."

"I can promise you that I have no idea what you're talking about. But it would have meant nothing to me if the dumb bitch died."

This pissed off Kristoff, and he lunged for Jeremy and grabbed him by the throat. His burly friend tried to intervene, but took an elbow to the gut, knocking the wind out of him. The sound of Jeremy choking was almost like music to his ears.

"Kris, ease off will you! We don't want to kill him! Even if we really do want to!" Anna shouted, trying to get his attention.

Instantly he let off a bit, but still had Jeremy by the collar of his shirt. "You are so lucky that she is here with me. Otherwise, you'd be dead. I know it was you that beat Elsa bloody, and I know all about the abuse you put her through when you were dating. You need to get over the fact that she dumped your dumb ass and move on, because next time I won't let go. Now then, you and your friend better disappear, and for good. If Elsa gets any more threatening notes or letters, nasty voicemails, or even thinks that you're screwing with her, I will hunt you down and end you, and I'll be sure to bring her boyfriend along so he can finish the job. This is your last chance to escape with your life still somewhat intact. I know where you live. Do _not_ make me pay you a visit."

Jeremy looked terrified, and rightly so. But, as soon as Kristoff looked like he was going to let him go, he turned back around and coldcocked Jeremy square in the jaw, knocking him to the ground fazed. Then, without another word, Kristoff turned and walked away with Anna hot on his heels.

"You'll regret that you son of a bitch!" Jeremy shouted after them, trying his best to pick himself up off the ground.

"Yeah, I doubt that," Kristoff called over his shoulder.

Once they were back at Kristoff's truck, Anna climbed in and shot him a wicked grin. "That was overly satisfying."

"Yeah, it really was. Do me a favor and don't tell Elsa right away. I'll tell her later."

"Okay. Are you worried he'll call the police?"

"Hell no," Kristoff said with a laugh. "He knows he's in deep shit with us right now. Even if he did go to the police, it's his word versus mine. I have an eye witness that will place me at home with her at the time of the attack. His moronic friend will probably say I was there. Honestly, I'm not worried."

"Well, good. We were at home snuggling when the bastard was knocked out. Anyway, let's get these movies home and wrapped up. Oh, we still need to get her a card too. Do you think she'd want one?"

"I doubt she'd care, to be honest. But we should still get one. We can stop by the store on the way back to your place."

"Okay, sounds good," Anna said happily.

00000

That Thursday, Elsa and Micah arrived around 3 pm and were the first ones there. They knew there was no real set time for the party, and it wasn't even really a party. It was more of a casual get-together of friends. Rose had stopped throwing parties in eighth grade. Still, she always had all her friends hang out at her place on her birthday. It was her parents that liked to throw the parties, but they promised her that they would stop making a big deal about it just for her.

They parked out on the street since the driveway wasn't that big. The road was wide enough that there shouldn't be any problems, and it never saw much traffic to begin with. During the rainy season, the storm drains would back up because of debris cluttered inside, and the city never saw it worthwhile to clean them out. So Rose's front yard would turn into a small pond, drowning her mother's flowerbed. Needless to say, it was something of a big issue.

Rose greeted them at the door, and they followed her to her room. They knew there wasn't going to be any cake and ice cream, not like when they were little. Instead there was pizza and soda, and some sushi that she had picked up at the store. Once they were in her room, Elsa handed over their presents and card.

"What the hell is this?" Rose asked.

"Well, if you open it, you'll find out," Elsa teased.

Ripping the paper open took zero effort, and when she saw the books that they had gotten her the other day, she smirked and sat them down on her bed. "These are pretty cool. I like the surreal art one. Never done that sort of stuff before. The manga isn't one I'm familiar with. But, thanks guys."

"Don't forget to read the card," Micah said.

The the card had a picture of a cartoon dog on it, but she didn't really bother to read it. She was more curious as to what they wrote inside. Knowing Elsa, it was probably something meaningful.

 _We know it's not much, but we hope you have a good birthday anyway. You're an amazing friend, and we both hope that you someday find the happiness you deserve. You are a very special person, and when you find that special someone to be with, you'll know. You helped us find one another when we were lost. Now let us return the favor. We will help guide you through the fog._

This brought a smile to her face, and she dragged both of them into a group hug. "Thanks guys. It means a lot. And you're welcome, by the way."

"Don't mention it."

"Do you know when the others are supposed to get here?" Elsa asked.

"No. Hopefully soon though. Harley's mom is bringing her down, so it shouldn't be much longer."

"That's good. I can't wait until she gets here. I really like her."

"Yeah, me too. A lot."

It wasn't long before the others arrived. Kristoff and Anna got there about thirty minutes later, and Elsa could hear the rumbling of the truck's engine as they pulled up to the curb from inside the house. When they went outside to greet them, Anna ran up to Rose and threw her arms around her and wished her a happy birthday. Then they followed her inside, where they handed over their presents to her. Just like before, she tore into them and smirked.

"Okay, I've never seen either of these, and this one might be a little on the risque side. I might save that one for later," she said.

"We figured you'd probably like it," Kristoff said with a grin.

"Where's Harley?" Anna asked as she looked around.

"Not here yet. Her mom is supposed to be dropping her off soon. Hopefully," Rose told her.

"So, what do you guys wanna do in the meantime?" Micah asked.

"I have a bunch of soda and snacks that my parents got, plus there are a couple pizzas that just need to be thrown in the oven here in a bit. Probably after Harley gets here."

They ended up waiting nearly a full hour before their new friend showed up. When she did, she got out of her mother's car and skipped happily up the driveway before cheerfully greeting everyone.

"Hey guys!" Harley said in her trademark excitement. "It's awesome to see you again! I'm so sorry I'm late! My mom had some errands she wanted to run before bringing me down, and I tried to-"

"Harley, it's okay. Really. I'm just glad that you're here now," Rose assured her. "Why don't you come in and actually get comfortable. We're just kind of hanging out right now. Thinking about maybe going and catching a movie in a bit. If you're up for it."

"That would be totally cool! Oh, um, follow me!"

Grabbing Rose by the hand, Harley dragged her to her room and closed the door behind them. Then she turned back to Rose, and looked incredibly nervous.

"So, what is this?" Rose asked.

"Um, I wanted to give you your present," Harley replied. "So, here's the card I got you."

Digging through her purse, Harley handed over the birthday card she had gotten for Rose. It was sweet. It had a picture of a rose on the cover, and it didn't look like a normal birthday card at all. When her eyes fell on the writing inside, her heart stopped.

 _Rose, I don't know how to say this. I've never been good at this sort of thing. But I am very thankful to have met you. You are an amazing friend, and you are a really good person. Too good, actually. Which is why I like you. You're smart, sassy, funny, cute as hell, and all around awesome. Which is why I was hoping that you'd be my girlfriend. I really, really like you, and I hope that you like me too._

When she looked up from the card, she was in total shock. But, she saw that Harley was holding up a little black box. Without saying a word, she thrust the thing into Rose's hand.

"Go ahead and open it!" Harley urged her.

Inside the box was the ring that Harley had bought her nearly a week ago. Rose was floored. She had no idea what to say, and when she picked it up she could see that her name was etched into the inside of the ring. The thing was beautiful.

"Harley, I have no idea what to say. This is amazing," Rose said, still in shock.

"Well, how about you say yes, and then come over here and kiss me," Harley suggested.

It didn't take Rose more than a second to smile and take Harley into a very warm embrace, then softly kissed her on the lips.

"I thought there was some guy you liked," Rose said after a minute of just staring at the girl.

"I said that because I was scared you wouldn't like me," Harley admitted. "But then Elsa told me that you're bi, and that immediately made everything so much easier. See, I'm gay, and have liked you pretty much since we first met. But I couldn't tell if you'd like me back, so I didn't say anything. But now you do, and everything is okay! So really, you have Elsa to thank for this."

"Remind me to give her a life threatening hug when I get a chance. Also, we're gonna need to get this thing resized. It's a little too big."

"Okay, that's easy enough. So, you're okay with this? You aren't scared?"

"I'm terrified, actually," Rose admitted. "But I'm okay with it too. Very okay. I'm just nervous about how everyone else will react. Only Elsa and Anna know about me. The guys don't. But I'm sure it'll be fine. Elsa seems certain it will be, so I'm gonna have to trust her on it. But I guess she's also the only one that knows you're gay. She expected this, didn't she?"

"Yep. After I told her how I felt, she more or less told me you felt the same way," Harley told her. "She didn't come right out and say it, but I read between the lines. Oh, I'm so excited! You're only the second girlfriend I've ever had. The first one wasn't serious at all, and back then I wasn't sure what or who I was. But I am completely sure now, and I am sure that I want this. I want this to work. I have so much fun when I'm with you, and I don't feel alone at all. Now I fully understand why. I guess you were being nice to me because you like me."

"I would have been nice to you anyway, but I was trying to be really obvious about it without just telling you. I thought there was a real connection at first, but then you said you were into this guy, which I now know wasn't true, but at the time it really stung. But it doesn't matter now."

"So, now what?" Harley asked.

"I don't know. Should we tell the others?"

Harley ran a slender hand across Rose's cheek and smiled. "Only if you feel comfortable with it. I don't want you to do something that you aren't comfortable with."

"They're going to find out sooner or later anyway," Rose said with a sigh. "Might as well get it out of the way."

As they headed back out to the living room with the others, there was a knot forming in the pit of Rose's stomach. She didn't know why, since she didn't think she had anything to worry about, but it was there anyway. It shouldn't have been though. They were her friends. She was close with all of them. There was no reason to fear them at all.

"So, um, guys, there's something I wanted to say," Rose said, calling for their attention.

"Sure, what's up?" Anna asked.

Everyone was looking at her now, and for the first time since she's known them, she was scared. "Um, okay. So, there's something I've been meaning to tell you for a little while now, but haven't really had the courage to do so."

"Rose, you don't have to do this if you aren't ready," Elsa told her. "I don't want you regretting this."

"I know, but I have to get this off my chest, Els. If I don't, it's going to eat at me."

"What are you guys talking about?" Micah asked, confused.

"Okay, well, here goes. I'm bi. Harley is gay, and she's my girlfriend."

There was silence for a brief moment, but it didn't last. Kristoff and Anna both smirked at her, and Elsa had a smile on her face telling her friend she did a good job and was happy for her. Micah, on the other hand, only looked more confused.

"Well, congratulations ladies. I'm happy for you," Kristoff said.

"Yeah, me too," Anna agreed.

"You two are more than welcome, by the way," Elsa said with a grin.

Micah didn't say anything right away. He just sort of stared at them, mostly in shock. It was as if his brain wasn't processing what had just happened properly.

"Wait, let me get this straight. You're gay and dating a girl?" Micah asked slowly.

"I'm bi. Which is like half gay, I guess," Rose told him.

"Rose, what the hell? When did this happen?"

"Earlier this year."

"I can't believe this," Micah said, disgusted.

"Can't believe what?" Rose asked nervously.

"That you're like this! It's not normal, Rose! It's god damn disgusting!"

Rose froze in place. She was horror-struck, and it was plastered onto her face. That wasn't what she had expected at all from her friend. She had been so sure that he'd be okay with it, but she just found out how wrong she was. Her eyes started to tear up, and her lip quivered in fear. Harley threaded her arm around Rose's, and tried her best to comfort her, but it didn't work. Instead, Rose turned and stormed out of the house, with everyone else just watching her leave.

Furious, Elsa rounded on Micah and nearly smacked him. "Micah Aldrin! I cannot believe you right now! Rose is your friend! You don't treat your friends like that!"

"Yeah bro, that was totally not cool," Kristoff said angrily.

"Don't get pissed off at me! I'm not the freak here!" Micah exclaimed.

Before he could say anything more, Elsa slapped him across the face so hard that it knocked him out of his seat and onto the floor. There was a large red hand print where she smacked him, and he was slightly dazed. He had no idea she could hit so hard.

"You are such an asshole!" Elsa shouted. "Now you get your ass out there and apologize right now! I will _not_ have my boyfriend act like such a bigot! If you don't do this, then we are through!"

She stared down at him, her hands on her hips, and she looked like she was about to murder him. Micah looked around at the others, and every one of them was staring back at him with anger and disgust. Even Harley looked angry and hurt, then a moment later she ran out of the house after Rose.

He barely had time to stand up before Elsa grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and dragged him outside to where Rose was. She was sitting on the curb weeping, and Harley was doing her best to hold her and comfort her. When they got close, Elsa practically threw him towards them and gave him a death stare.

"Hey, um, Rose," Micah began nervously. "I, um, wanted to apologize for being such a jerk. I'm sorry for what I said and how I reacted. I was just shocked is all. I don't hate you or find you disgusting. You're still one of my best friends. I know I royally screwed up, and I hope you can forgive me."

She didn't answer him right away, and Harley was trying her best to coax Rose into responding. He couldn't tell what the girl was thinking, but he knew she was pissed off at him too.

"Micah, what you said was so god damn hurtful," Rose finally said after a couple minutes. "I have never been more hurt in my life. I am your friend, and you treated me like I'm some monster. Why? Why do you hate me for who I am?"

"I don't hate you, Rose. I swear I don't. I don't know why I said those things. It's not how I feel at all. I think it was just the shock of finding out. It's like I couldn't believe that you were hiding this big secret and didn't want to tell anyone. I didn't know how to respond. But I don't hate you. If you and Harley are happy together, then you have my support. I mean it. But please forgive me. I'm so damn sorry."

"I don't know if I want to forgive you right now. I don't know what I ever did to you, Micah. I tried for years to get you and Elsa together. It finally worked. I thought you'd be happy with that. And I honestly believed that you'd be supportive of me coming out to you. But if you're going to treat me this way, then I don't want you in my life anymore, no matter how hard it would be to lose you."

"I promise, I'm not really that way. I will be supportive of you. Right now, I hate myself for reacting the way I did. I am so sorry, Rose. I don't hate you, and I don't feel that way about you. You are an awesome person and friend. Please, let's just forget this happened," Micah pleaded.

"We'll see. Right now, I just want to sit here and be left alone."

"Alright. Again, I'm sorry."

As he walked back towards the house, Rose just sort of stared into the distance, not really looking at anything. She was doing her best to calm down, and having Harley there was helping with that a lot. It was nice being held by someone, especially someone that she cared about.

"You guys are fine," Rose said after a bit. "You might as well sit down too, blondie. I mostly didn't want Micah out here. I'm still in too much pain to want him around."

"If you want, I'll take him home," Elsa offered. "I'm not sure he's going to be staying with me anymore."

"Don't do that because of this, Els. It's not worth you two breaking up. I tried too damn hard to get you two into a relationship to begin with."

"I will not have him act this way. If he so much as even thinks of saying anything like that again, we're through."

"You feeling any better, sweetheart?" Harley asked.

"No, not particularly. But I am getting hungry. Maybe we should go make dinner."

"Do you still want to go to that movie?"

"Not really. I mostly just want to go lay down," Rose admitted.

"We can go do that if you want."

"Maybe later. Right now, I want food."

"Okay, let's go cook those pizzas then," Harley suggested.

"Oh, Els. I just wanted to say thanks. Without you, we never would have happened."

"You're more than welcome, Rose," Elsa said. "Come on. I think the others might be hungry."


	36. Chapter 36 - Ichiban

**A/N: So, apparently there was a lot of confusion about the last chapter. Namely, with Micah's reaction and then sudden change of heart. Well, let me explain.**

 **Micah reacted harshly to the surprise coming out of one of his closest friends, something he never expected to see happen. Now, for reasons that will be explained in the next chapter, he freaks out at her and says some pretty hurtful shit. Homophobic even. So this would lead everyone to believe he hates gays.**

 **Well, the truth of the matter is he does not. He is not a homophobe or anything of the sort. As I said, his reaction will be explained in the next chapter, and I can assure you that you likely won't see it coming.**

 **The reason he seemingly did a complete 180 from being hateful to supportive is pretty obvious. He had some serious sense knocked into him by Elsa. He was god smacked, so to speak. It sort of made him wake up and take a look at what he was saying and doing. Now, I don't know about the rest of you, but I've seen this actually happen in person with some people I know, so that is where I am drawing my experience from.**

 **So yeah, when Micah made that awkward apology, he was sincere. He really does support them. So never fear with that.**

 **Anyway, I'll probably upload the next chapter this weekend for one reason: I bought a condo! It's a little further from work than I'd like, but it's got everything I was looking for, is in really great shape, and is really affordable. Apparently the county it's in is cheaper to live in than the one I currently live in, so I am getting a bigger place for less than if I were to get a place here.**

 **Also, I got transferred closer to home for work. Boeing finally decided that I had done my time in hell and moved me to the factory that is literally half the distance away. So life seems to be looking up.**

 **So, in spite of the fact that I'm getting a divorce(don't worry, it's better off this way), things are still looking up. And I'll be able to continue writing this story in peace. It's all coming together.**

 **Anyway, enough from me. Enjoy the chapter.**

 **Chapter 36**

 _Ichiban_

Later that night, after everyone else had gone home, Rose and Harley were laying down in bed cuddling. They were mostly just looking at one another, every now and then kissing each other softly. Harley was running her hand through Rose's hair, which she seemed to like. The older girl still looked down, and had all evening. Harley had no idea what to do.

"You're very beautiful, you know that?" Harley said sweetly to Rose.

"Thanks. I doubt it though. I'm only average at best," Rose responded sourly.

"Don't be like that. I find you to be very attractive. I like your short black hair, all those piercings, your cute little nose, your heavenly turquoise eyes, and that smile of yours that warms my heart. I may not be the smartest person around, but I know beauty when I see it."

"You honestly mean all of that?" Rose asked quietly.

"Of course I do, silly. I wouldn't have said it if it weren't true. Why do you think I'm so attracted to you?" Harley said.

Rose scoffed at her compliments, but smiled anyway. Harley was proving to be very effective at making her feel better about herself. Right now, she needed that. She needed to feel like she mattered, and that she was beautiful. Nobody had ever been there to tell her that before. It was kind of strange having that connection with someone. Originally, she had planned on waiting until after college before dating. That proved to be impossible it seemed.

"Thanks for staying the night. I kind of didn't want to be alone," Rose said after a bit.

"Hey, it's alright," Harley told her. "I'm glad you asked me to. After what happened this afternoon, I figured I had better be here for you anyway. I just hope you guys can sort things out. I don't like seeing friends fighting."

"Don't worry. I talked to him a bit more after we ate and we sort of smoothed things over. Now he just has to work things out with Elsa, which is going to be tough to do. He really pissed her off. None of us have ever seen him act that way before."

"Well, I don't know Micah very well, but I didn't get bad vibes from him. It really surprised and scared me when he reacted that way. But there are lots of people that hate gay people. I don't really think he's one, I think he was just kind of scared of what it might mean. I've seen that happen too. But I am glad that you guys were able to talk things out."

"Have you had to deal with this stuff before?" Rose asked.

"Yeah. When I came out to my parents, I was thrown out of the house. My father was disgusted with me at first, and my mother refused to believe me. That was just a few years ago. But after a lot of fighting and talking, they finally sat down and listened. It took them awhile to finally accept me, and for some reason it took my mother longer than my father, but they both realized that nothing had changed and that I wasn't some horrible person. After a few weeks, things slowly went back to normal. They didn't look at me like I was infected with some disease, they talked to me like a regular person, and they even told me they loved me. Eventually, anyway. But it's still a very touchy subject for a lot of people. Hell, we're allowed to get married now, and that pissed off a lot of people. I don't even know why. For some reason, being gay is still wrong in a lot of people's eyes. I think it's mostly our generation that has become okay with it. Maybe the generation before us too. But our parents? They are of that generation where you just didn't talk about it or accept it."

"Do you think Micah really hates me?"

"No, sweetheart, I don't," Harley assured her. "I think he was scared and shocked, and that his brain went in the wrong direction. Yeah, what he said and did was hurtful, but then he realized immediately that he had screwed up big. I think Elsa literally smacked some sense into him too. You should've seen the power that she could pack into a slap."

"I just hope things go back to normal. I don't want this to change things at all. You were already becoming their friend. The only difference now is that we're dating. Micah promised that he supported us and would be much better about showing it than he first did."

"I'm sure things will be fine. He learned his lesson. Elsa might not speak to him or cuddle with him for a bit, but I think for the most part everything will be fine. What about your parents? Do they know?"

"Not yet. But they probably won't care," Rose said. "They're pretty open-minded about things. I don't even think my sister will care. Of course, I didn't think Micah would react the way he did, so maybe I'm a pretty poor judge of character."

"No, Micah was a fluke," Harley told her. "Like I said, it sounds like that issue is fixed now, so you have nothing to worry about. If you're confident your parents will be okay with it, then maybe we should tell them together. I would totally love to be there for you and support you through it. And if they have a problem with it for some reason, I'll help you figure out what to do."

This made Rose smile and lean in for another kiss. "Okay. Tomorrow I'll tell them. I won't be able to keep it secret from them for long anyway. Especially with you always here."

"Good. I'm glad we got that all figured out. What do you want to do now?"

"Honestly, I'm tired. I kind of just want to lay here with you and fall asleep."

"Okay. Do you want to be the big or little spoon?" Harley asked.

"I don't really care. I'm kind of enjoying just laying here looking at you. You have pretty brown eyes. They look like chocolate."

"Maybe we should go to the store and get some chocolate then. That always cheers me up."

"Nah," Rose said. "I'm comfortable and don't feel like getting up. You can take the car if you want."

"Rose, baby, I can't drive remember?" Harley reminded her. "I'm only fifteen. I'll be sixteen in September though. So, maybe you can teach me?"

"Nobody has taught you how to drive yet?"

"No. I asked my parents if I could take driving lessons, but they haven't gotten around to signing me up for it yet. Besides, I'd rather learn from someone I trust."

"You trust me?" Rose asked.

"Of course I do. You're a very good driver, and you're also my girlfriend. So it kind of comes with the territory."

"Oh. Well, we need to get you your learner's permit. But the problem with this is I have to have had my license for five years or more in order to legally teach you. I've barely had it for one year."

"Well that sucks. Maybe you can help me sign up for classes?" Harley asked. "My parents will never get around to it, and I have the money to pay for it. I just might need someone to give me a ride to and from the lessons. If that's okay. If not, then that's totally okay too."

"Love, I would be more than happy to help you out. You get it set up and just tell me what you need," Rose told her.

"Thanks. I'll call tomorrow and set up the whole thing. Speaking of, what do you want to do tomorrow?"

"No clue. I finished my latest drawing, so I have nothing to do. Maybe we can binge on one of my anime series."

"Okay. We can just lay in bed all day and watch something. Sounds romantic."

"If that sounds romantic, then how about I take you on a date tomorrow?"

"That sounds awesome!" Harley exclaimed. "Do you want me to dress up all pretty? I have a few dresses at home that I look pretty good in if I do say so myself."

"I love how girly you are. It's adorable," Rose admitted with a grin. "I'll take you by your place so you can change into whatever you think I'll like. I would love to see you in a dress."

"Too bad you don't have a suit to wear. That'd be kind of funny to see."

"Why the hell would you want to see me in a suit?"

"I dunno. Maybe a tux would be better," Harley mused.

"Don't tell me you think _that'd_ be appealing in any way."

"Maybe a little. You're more the tomboyish punk chick. I like that about you. Not manly or butch. That's not what I mean. You're still beautiful and feminine. You just have this aura that says that you know what you want, you're not afraid of anything, and you can kick someone's ass in a heartbeat if you needed to. It's really hard to explain. But I think tomboy punk chick suits you. Which means that you are definitely the tuxedo or dress suit type."

"That is the first time anyone has ever said that sort of thing about me. I don't even know how to respond. 'Tomboy punk chick'? I don't really know what that means. But I'll take it as a compliment."

"Good, because it is one."

"It is becoming obvious that you are as much of a dork as the rest of my friends. This is why I love y-"

She was too late and didn't catch herself in time. Both of them sort of stared at one another, not really sure how to proceed with the conversation. It was obvious what Rose was about to say, and she was reprimanding herself pretty hard.

"Wait, you love me?" Harley asked after a few moments of silence.

"Damn it," Rose said to herself, looking away.

"Rose, look at me. Is that true?"

"I don't know. I mean, we've only known each other a few weeks, and we've been together for less than a day. I don't know how I'm supposed to feel. I really like you a lot. I'm very happy being with you right now. I have these confused emotions, and I don't really know how to read them. Since I met you you've gotten into my head and royally messed with things. You leave me flustered and drive me crazy. The good kind of crazy. But I don't know if that's love or not."

"It sounds like it to me. And, well, I kind of feel the same. But I know it's way too early to tell for sure, and I don't want to scare you away by saying that I love you when we've barely been together that long. So, for now, I'll just say that I really, really like you. I think that's the best thing to do."

"Can I admit something to you without you getting pissed?" Rose asked nervously.

"I doubt I'll get upset, but sure," Harley said.

"Well, the thing is, I used to have this really big crush on Elsa. I knew she wasn't into girls, but I always kind of hoped she'd give me a chance. But I knew that her heart belonged to Micah, so I didn't bother even thinking about trying. I'm actually kind of ashamed that I felt that way about my best friend."

"That's your secret? I'd be worried that you weren't into her. She's freaking hot. But yeah, I don't think she swings that way. She's pretty dedicated to Micah too, even if he did try her patience today. But don't worry about it. I'm not upset. It'd be a pretty silly thing to get upset about."

"Oh good. I was worried that would make you jealous or something," Rose said with a sigh of relief.

"Jealous? Please. I don't get that way. At least, I've never been that way before. But you seriously have nothing to worry about. I promise."

"Okay. What do you think is gonna happen at school?"

"I don't know," Harley said. "Nobody there knows I'm gay, mostly because I don't have any friends besides you guys. Plus, I'm not out with everyone. I haven't even seen my old friends since I started high school."

"Should we keep us a secret then? Because I really want to hold your hands and stuff, but I don't want to cause any trouble for us either."

"Well, why don't we see what happens? There are other gay kids at school. We're not the only ones. So, I guess we just play it by ear."

"Alright. That sounds good I think. God, I'm scared. Why am I scared?" Rose asked.

"Because this is a scary thing to go through," Harley told her. "Being gay is still very much taboo. There are people that want to see us dead, and there's no justifiable reason for it. If we do come out at school, or just make people aware that we're gay by our actions, you need to prepare yourself for the hate."

"I'm not prepared for it. But I suppose it will have to happen at some point. At least we'll have our friends to look out for us. Will this have any effect on them? Like will they be targeted for just being friends with us?"

"I don't know sweetheart. I hope not."

Rose eventually rolled over onto her back and pulled Harley closer to her. Snuggling as closely and as tightly as she could, the blonde wrapped her legs around Rose's and let out a contented sigh. She was actually happy for the first time in a long time. She hadn't told the older girl that she was utterly miserable before they met, and for the time being didn't see any reason to. Her typically happy demeanor was mostly just an act, but she didn't want to worry anybody. If she were to be completely honest, she was terrified and lonely all the time because of who she was, and she hated it. At least she had finally found some semblance of peace and happiness.

00000

The next day was a rather lazy and relaxed sort of day. When they woke up, Rose was surprised when she found Harley's sleeping form cuddling with her. It didn't take long for her to remember that the blonde had spent the night with her. A wonderful night at that. She remembered they had spent most of the night holding each other and kissing. It had quickly become something she enjoyed. The best part was Harley was learning everything with her. It was unexplored territory for both of them.

Once the younger girl began to stir, Rose ran her hand through Harley's hair and smiled. "Good morning sleeping beauty."

"Good morning to you too, love," Harley replied with a grin. "How long have you been watching me?"

"About half an hour. You're adorable, by the way. You snort in your sleep."

"I do not!" Harley argued as she playfully slapped Rose's hand away.

"You totally do. But it's cute, so it's okay."

"Whatever. Your hair is a mess."

"I'm sorry princess," Rose teased. "Not everyone can wake up looking perfect."

"Then you should put more effort into it."

After a bit more cuddling, they decided to crawl out of bed and head to the kitchen to pour themselves some cereal. Rose's parents were already up and dressed, but her sister was nowhere to be seen. She assumed Brigitte went to her boyfriend's at some point last night. That would explain why she wasn't already up yet. For a college student, she didn't sleep in much.

"When do you want to tell them?" Harley whispered as they sat down at the dinner table.

"I don't know. I'm still kind of scared. I mean, I know they won't care, but that doesn't make it any easier."

"You don't have to be, baby. I will be right there. And if you're sure that they won't care, then it should be easy. We can hold hands and everything."

"You promise you'll help me?" Rose asked nervously.

"Absolutely," Harley reassured her.

After they finished eating and headed back to Rose's room to change and make themselves presentable, Rose sat on the edge of her bed and tried her best to mentally prepare herself as Harley peppered her with light and loving kisses. It helped a little, but the fear was still there in the pit of her stomach. She felt cold, and a tad paranoid.

"It'll be okay, sweetheart, I promise. Just be brave and remember I will be right there with you," Harley reminded her.

Before she could say a word, Harley grabbed her hands and led her out to the living room where her parents were watching something on the TV. Rose had no idea what it was and didn't really care. Her nerves were already shot, and she was shaking slightly from the adrenaline that had already started making its presence known.

With one final glance at her girlfriend and a refusal to let her hand go, Rose cleared her throat to get her parents' attention. It didn't seem to work, and then she tried several more times before getting fed up.

"Um, mom? Dad? Can we talk?" Rose said shakily.

"Sure. What's up, kiddo?" her father asked.

"Okay. Um, well, there's something I really need to tell you, and I don't know how to say it without just coming out and saying it. Do you remember in fifth grade how I sort of had a boyfriend? Brad?"

"Yeah, we remember. We loved teasing you about it. It was adorable," her mother said with a smirk.

"Yeah, well, it turns out that, um, I like more than just boys. I also like girls."

"As in, you're bisexual?"

"...Yeah," Rose said plainly.

Her parents didn't say anything for a almost a minute. They mostly looked back and forth between themselves and the girls. It was starting to drive Rose crazy.

"Well, I don't know what to say to that, sweetheart," her father said. "If you think we're going to be angry with you, then you don't know us as well as you should. We're not like that. I can see that you're scared, and you have no reason to be. When we tell you that you can tell us anything, we mean it."

"So, you don't hate me or feel disgusted?"

"Why would we be?"

"I...don't know. I guess because a lot of people are that way. They hate people like me and Harley."

"You should know we are not like most people, hon," her mother said.

"If this is who you are, then we're glad that you figured that out and came to us about it," her father added. "I assume that you and Harley are together?"

"Yeah. As of yesterday, actually," Rose admitted, feeling her hand get squeezed by Harley for reassurance.

"Well, good. Just remember to be safe, although I suppose safe sex won't be an issue for you."

"Um, I don't know if I should be embarrassed or not."

"Thank you for being so cool about this," Harley finally said. "My parents were not as accepting when I came out to them. At all, actually. They finally came around, but it was very hard for a long time."

"You both are more than welcome. And we want you to know you're welcome to be here whenever you want or need to. Especially now, it seems," Rose's father said.

Her father got up and walked across the room to give her and Harley a hug. It was heartwarming to know her parents didn't care. She knew they wouldn't, but she had worked herself up over the fear of what others thought that she expected the worst. She was very happy that she was utterly wrong. If her parents didn't care, she knew her sister wouldn't. Rose didn't really speak to the rest of her family, especially since most of them lived on the east coast. Her immediate family was all she had.

After a bit, they headed back to Rose's room to watch some anime. Rose didn't care what they watched, so she let Harley pick one. Cowboy Bebop was the show of choice, as it was one Harley had never seen. They didn't pay much attention to it, though, as they were more interested in each other. The girls ended up crawling back under the covers and cuddling while the intro song to the show played, and then it soon faded into the background as they kissed and stared at one another.

"You were very brave earlier," Harley said softly, running a slender hand down Rose's cheek.

"Yeah, I guess. It was a hell of a lot easier having you there. I don't think I could have gone through with it alone."

"You could have, but I wanted to make it as easy on you as I could. You know, we're going to face a lot of hard times like that, and the results aren't always going to be that good."

"I know. Are you sure you want to do this?" Rose asked. "With me, I mean."

"Of course I do. You've been a great friend for the last few weeks, and I know you'll be a great girlfriend. Just promise me that you won't give up on us when things get hard."

"Why the hell would I do that?"

"Because a lot of people break under that kind of pressure," Harley told her. "I want you to be sure that you can handle this. Just because our friends are so accepting doesn't mean everyone will be."

"We talked about this already. I know. I've made up my mind, though. I am not running away from this."

"Good. Where do you want to go tonight?"

"I have a place in mind, but it's sort of a surprise," Rose said.

"I like surprises," Harley said with a twinkle in her eye.

"Good. Now then, hold me for a bit until I pass back out."

00000

That evening Rose found herself sitting on Harley's bed as she waited for the girl to get ready to go out on their date. She had gone through her closet at least a dozen times, but didn't seem satisfied with anything she had picked out. There was a pile of clothes laying in the middle of the floor, and Harley was running around in her underwear trying to find something to wear. Rose didn't mind entirely, since she liked the view she was getting. But she was getting hungry, so there was some desire to get going.

"I'm sorry babe, I can't find anything good to wear," Harley said as she frantically dug through her closet once more.

"Harley, sweetie, why don't you just wear that red dress? I liked that one," Rose told her.

"You did?"

"Yeah, I've told you that like five times already."

"Are you sure you want me to wear that? I mean, I will, but I didn't think you'd like that one."

"Why not? It's cute, and I want to see you in it."

"Alright, let me find it in this mess and I'll throw it on," Harley said.

The pile of clothes was a bit bigger than she had thought, and it took her a minute to find the dress she wanted. As soon as she pulled it out, she had it over head and was slipping it on. It was snug, and it hugged the curves of her body enough to do things to Rose that she had never felt before. It was also very slimming, which Harley didn't need help with to begin with. It was a dark red, and covered her up just enough so that she didn't expose anything that she didn't want to show off. Rose started grinning like a fool as she watched the girl hunt down a pair of shoes that would go with it, and then finally fix her hair.

"I do have a bunch of makeup," Harley admitted as she tied her hair into a ponytail. "But I'll just put on a little for now."

"I don't mind. I don't even really wear makeup. Maybe some lip gloss, but that's about it," Rose said.

"You would look hot if you did some makeup like Elsa does. It doesn't have to be the same, but just something simple would work. I bet eyeliner and some eyeshadow would look great on you."

"Maybe. You about ready?"

"Yep. Let me grab my purse and then we can get going."

A few minutes later they were on the road headed back into town. Their destination was on the other side of the city, so it would take a bit of time to get there. It was a fun ride, especially for Rose, because Harley was excited and could barely sit still. Her bubbly personality was resurfacing, and it was only intensified by the fact that she desperately wanted to know what the surprise was. The mystery was killing her.

They eventually managed to make their way to a large parking lot outside of a strip mall. As soon as they were stopped Harley was out of the car bouncing around. Being so energetic was almost infectious, as Rose was feeling somewhat inspired to be nearly as excited. But she kept her cool and took her girlfriend by the hand, leading her towards the far end of the strip to a small restaurant tucked away in the corner. The sign above the door said 'Ichiban Sushi'.

"What is this place?" Harley asked with wonder as they entered the tiny establishment.

"It's a great sushi place," Rose told her. "I found it last year after I got my driver's license. I've been coming here at least a few times a month ever since. They even know me now."

Holding the door open for Harley, Rose followed her in and grinned. The blonde was looking everywhere at once at the interior. It was nothing like she had expected at all. The tables were round and stained a light tan color, and the chairs were cushioned. The bar itself ran straight across the length of the establishment, and the bar stools were cushioned as well. Instead of being angular, the bar top was rounded and curved around the kitchenette. There were potted bamboo plants placed sporadically throughout the restaurant, and there was a cute little bonsai tree near the cash register. The whole place had a very sophisticated vibe to it.

"Come on, let's sit up at the bar," Rose urged the blonde.

Harley followed her to the front of the bar, and watched as Rose greeted the chef. His name was apparently Akihito, and they seemed to know each other fairly well. She didn't even wait for a menu before placing an order, and then she introduced Harley to the man, who greeted her warmly.

"I'm getting us some tea as well," Rose told Harley as she sat down on the stool. "Also, the order I just made has enough food for us to share, so don't worry. There'll be plenty."

"This is really cool!" Harley said excitedly. "I've never been to a sushi place before! My parents wouldn't be into this sort of thing, so I knew it'd never happen. But this is great!"

As they sat there and watched their food be prepared, Harley was amazed at how skillfully the chef was able to toss the various sushi rolls together. Some wrapped in seaweed, others simply a layer of cold sticky rice, but all filled with some form of vegetable. It took a little bit of time, but not nearly as long as she thought it would. After it was all ready, he drizzled some sort of sauce over the food and handed the tray over to Rose, who sat it down between the two of them.

"Do you wanna try the chopsticks?" Rose asked as she picked up a pair for herself.

"Um, I have no idea how they work," Harley said. "But I'd be more than willing to try."

"Alright. It's a little weird at first, but give it a little time and you'll get the hang of it."

As it turned out, Rose was right. It was incredibly awkward at first, and Harley's hand refused to cooperate with her. But she didn't get frustrated with it. Instead, she laughed about it and kept on trying. Every time she tried to pick up one of the rolls, her chopsticks would cross over and she would drop the thing back into the tray, or into her lap. Rose was impressed with how persistent the girl was, and how she never got frustrated.

Eventually, it was as if her fingers finally figured it out, and she was able to manipulate the sticks with some sort of accuracy and finesse. This made her extremely happy, and she sort of celebrated joyfully at her success. Rose thought it was adorable to watch, and rather amusing. It also meant that the food would finally get devoured a little faster. There was plenty of it.

After ordering a second round of rolls and quickly devouring those as well, the girls decided it was time to head out. It was barely 7 pm, and neither really felt like heading home just yet. So instead of heading back to Harley's to drop her off, they ended up just driving around for a bit.

"So now what?" Harley asked as she dug through her purse for her phone. "I don't want to go home yet."

"I know. I don't either. We can head down to this spot by the river that I know. It's kind of secluded and private, so nobody would bother us. We can just sort of hang out and do whatever," Rose said.

"That sounds kinda cool. We should do that."

They turned off the main road and drove down several side streets until they eventually came to a gravel road that lead off towards a wooded area. The river was off to one side, and it looked to be a little low. It often was this time of year, even though it had the runoff from the thawing snow in the mountains to help compensate. Once they were parked, they followed a simple trail down towards the water, then ducked under a few branches that covered up the entrance to a small hideaway in the trees. It was almost as if there was a bubble that pushed back the trees and underbrush, clearing out the area for them to stand and sit. There was even an old and weathered log for them to use as a seat.

"Rose, this is awesome," Harley said in wonder. "How'd you find it?"

"Eh, Kristoff and I went cruising around last summer and just stumbled upon it. It's pretty cool. We had a miniature camp out. We didn't stay the night or anything, but we hung out for a few hours and just talked. It was kind of nice. We don't really get to hang out much with just the two of us anymore."

"Yeah, I can see dating getting in the way of that. Did you sort of become neglected because of that?"

"Not really," Rose said. "At least not with Elsa. She's been really good about staying in contact with me and seeing me. Her last couple of boyfriends caused her to ditch us a lot of the time, but since she's been with Micah, that hasn't been an issue. I've been included in a lot of their plans, and we all still get together at her place and hang out on a fairly regular basis."

"That's good. I hope I can become a real part of the group. I like everyone."

"Don't worry, you will be. Everyone likes you. Just hang out with us whenever you can and you'll be fine."

They sat there for a bit on that old worn-out log and stared off at the river, listening to the water rushing by. Rose wrapped her arm around Harley's waist, pulling the girl closer to her. Resting her head on Rose's shoulder, she smiled and sighed, content with the way things were turning out. She was truly happy, a nice and welcome change to what her life had been like only a month prior. Things were changing for the better, and she was thrilled to finally have found someone that could make her happy. Her parents were finally at a point in their lives where they would actually support her to a small degree, and she was certain that they would be somewhat welcoming of Rose once she told them about her. That was the next step. Introducing Rose to her family. Harley was looking forward to the future she hoped to have with her girlfriend, regardless of the hardships they would undoubtedly face.


	37. Chapter 37 - Fear and Loathing

**A/N: Well guys, here's another surprise chapter for you! It's probably going to be the last one for few weeks, since starting next week I'll be back to my regular upload schedule.**

 **So, the reason for the extra chapter is that the inspection of my new condo went insanely well, which means we can move forward with the last bit of paperwork for the sale and transfer of ownership. This means that after everything is taken care of, I'll be able to begin the move-in process starting May 25th. To me, that is really cool.**

 **I couldn't do this without my dad's help though. His credit score is quite a bit better than mine(damn medical debt), and so technically everything is going to be in his name. But I'll be the one making the payments and all that. So yeah. He's also going to help me buy brand new furniture and appliances for the kitchen. Can we say stainless steel? Yes, I think we can.**

 **Anyway, this is all in an effort to help me start over after my divorce. That's the other reason everything is in his name. He doesn't want my ex getting her filthy hands on the condo, so we have to do it this way until at least after the divorce is finalized. The other issue with the whole thing is my daughter. My ex doesn't know this, but I'm considering getting an attorney and filing for custody. My daughter doesn't want to live with her mother anyway, and doesn't particularly like her. Especially after all the stuff she's done to me. I guess being 13 years old is old enough to realize that your parents are messed up. I know I've got my issues, but at least I don't stab people in the back or cheat. Anyway...**

 **With all that said, I want to address something really quick. This chapter will explain the whole issue with Micah. But I want you going into this knowing that there is a psychological aspect to it. It is something I've done research on, and while it is still a topic of debate since psychology is such a diverse and complex field, I've done the best I can to make it seem plausible. I don't know how good of a job I did with it, but I did at least try. But there's also a lot more to the chapter than just this one issue, which I know you know. Elsa isn't without issues here either.**

 **One last thing, then I'll shut up. This chapter takes place the same night of the Rose's birthday party. Just in case there is any confusion as to continuity. So it goes back one day from the last chapter. I think I forgot to mention this in the chapter itself, so I'm telling you now.**

 **Okay. I'm done. Read on.**

 **Chapter 37**

 _Fear and Loathing_

"I can't believe you, Micah!" Elsa shouted as they entered her room, throwing her purse onto the desk.

They had just returned to Elsa's from Rose's birthday party, and Elsa was still fuming over Micah's behavior. As far as she was concerned, what he did and said was reprehensible. The look on Rose's face told everyone just how hurtful it really was. His words and reaction were shocking to say the least.

"Elsa, I already said I'm sorry! Please, just drop it," Micah begged.

Elsa strode across the room towards the window and pulled the curtain shut, nearly tearing the thing down in the process.

"No! I will not drop it! What you did was beyond disgusting! Rose is your friend! Has been since sixth grade! Now you say those horrible things about her!? What the hell!"

"But I told you, we talked after dinner. We smoothed things over. We're alright again. I told her I was sorry and that I fully support her and Harley. I know what I did was horrible, and I have no idea why I acted the way I did! Please, believe me!"

"The things you said were homophobic, Micah. Bigoted. You treated her like she wasn't a person because she likes girls! What did she ever do to you!? If it wasn't for her, we never would have gotten together! Or did you forget that?"

"No, I didn't forget," Micah told her. "I'm very thankful to her. I said what I did was a mistake. A horrible mistake. I don't know what caused me to say those things, and I regret it. I do not feel that way at all. I'm very supportive of them. If they're happy, then so am I."

He tried to grab Elsa to calm her down, but she tore her self away from him and stormed past him.

"You don't just say that stuff without meaning it! That's not how it works! Something caused you to make a real ass out of yourself. I want to know what it is. What if I had told you I was bi? What then? Would you stop loving me because of it?" Elsa asked angrily.

"What!? No!"

"Then why Rose!?"

"I have no idea! My mouth just opened and words came out without me being able to think about it! How many times do I need to apologize!?"

Elsa threw her hands down at her sides and groaned. "You aren't getting it, Micah! It's not about the apology! It's about the fact that you said these horrible things to one of your closest friends because she came out of the closet! She did that because she trusted you! She believed that you would be okay with who she is! But you shoved that back in her face and made her feel like less than a person! That is _not_ okay! You're so lucky I only slapped you once, because I wanted to hit you all the way home!"

"What do you want from me, Elsa? I've said I'm sorry, I've made things up with Rose, I've told them I support them...what else is there?" Micah asked in desperation.

"How about you start with why you said those things to begin with. And don't feed me that bullshit about you not having any idea why, because that is a lie. Something made you feel that way. I want to know what it is. I have to know why my boyfriend is a homophobe."

"I am not a homophobe!"

"Then explain why you said she is a freak! Why she's disgusting! Those were your words!" Elsa shouted as she stabbed a finger at his chest.

"Can we just change the subject already? It's over and done with, Rose and I are fine now, there's nothing left to discuss."

"No! I want answers, Micah! Now!" Elsa shouted.

"There's nothing to tell! Now just drop it! Please?" Micah pleaded.

"Micah Aldrin, you answer me right now! What the hell is your problem with Rose!? Why did you say those things!?"

"Nothing! I have nothing against her!"

"Quit lying to me!"

"I'm not lying!"

"Then why the hell did you say that shit!?" Elsa asked, nearly screaming at him. She was getting angrier by the second.

"I don't know!" Micah exclaimed.

"Bullshit!"

"Ugh! Fine! You want to know why I said that shit!?"

"Yes!"

Lowering his voice, Micah shut the bedroom door. "Fine. I had sex with another guy. Happy?" he said sheepishly.

Dead silence. Elsa's face went from angry to surprised in an instant. Her brain was trying hard to process what she had just heard. It was definitely not the answer she was expecting.

"Wait. What? When was this?" she asked, confused.

Micah sighed, then took a seat on the edge of the bed. His face was beet red from embarrassment. "It was while I was with Amber."

"Micah, I don't understand."

"I was miserable. Beyond miserable, actually. She had this gay friend that always hung out with her, and one night Amber was out at the store, and left us alone at her place. He started flirting with me, and I have no idea why. Amber had told me several times that he apparently thought I was cute. She even made a few jokes about us getting it on or something. I never found it all that funny. Anyway, I pretty much didn't care what happened to me, and she had gotten into her dad's alcohol and shared it with us. I couldn't drink much before getting really tipsy. By the way, alcohol is gross.

"Anyway, it was just the two of us, he started flirting and I was suddenly feeling really good, and then it just sort of led into the two of us making out and doing, um, other stuff. After it happened, I was disgusted with myself. I quickly threw my clothes back on and took off. I don't think he even realized that it freaked me out. I walked all the way across town back to my place, took a hot shower, then tried to pass out."

Elsa had taken a seat next to him on the bed while he was talking, and just sort of stared at the floor. She didn't know what to say, although she thought it made sense in a way. But she still wasn't sure why he said the things he did.

"Why didn't you ever tell me this?" Elsa asked after a bit.

"Because I am so ashamed of it," Micah said. "I'm not proud of it in any way."

"So, does this make you bi as well?"

"No, I don't think so. I doubt I'd ever do it again. It's not like I found him attractive. I was basically drunk and not thinking clearly."

"Then why did you say those nasty things to Rose?"

"Honestly? I think I was just projecting my feelings of myself onto her. That's the only thing that makes sense to me. I didn't mean a word of it towards her."

"Does she know about this?"

"...Yes," Micah admitted.

"When did she find out?" Elsa asked.

"Earlier, when we were talking. She still thinks I hate her though. I can tell."

"I wish you would have told me. We both promised that there would be no more secrets between us."

"I know. I'm sorry. It's something I am so ashamed of that I just wanted to forget it ever happened."

"So, you hated it or what?"

"I don't know if I hated it so much as it wasn't something I wanted. I don't know. I don't feel that way normally," Micah said.

"You know it wouldn't bother me if you were bi, right?" Elsa asked.

"I know. But I don't think I am. Besides, like I said I was drunk. I don't think that really counts."

"I don't think someone would just have sex with someone else of the same sex while drunk unless it was something they had thought about doing. I could be wrong, but everything I've ever read suggests otherwise."

"What are you saying?"

"Nothing really. But is it possible that you're at least bi-curious and didn't realize it? I mean, alcohol removes inhibitions. Maybe it was something that you wanted to try without realizing it, and the alcohol just took that wall and insecurity away."

Micah was quite for a bit as he thought. He had no idea what to say. It could have been possible, but he felt that it was highly unlikely. If he was curious, he was certain he would have known before that night.

"I dunno Els," Micah finally said. "I don't think that makes sense. I mean, wouldn't I know if I was curious or not?"

"It could have been a subconscious thing," Elsa suggested. "That sort of stuff happens. I mean, there are a lot of possibilities, but the most logical seems to be that maybe you wanted to and didn't know it."

"Maybe. I dunno. It doesn't really matter, because I'm not gonna do it ever again. I feel disgusted with myself, and I just want to forget it ever happened."

"Why are you disgusted with yourself? It's normal for people to experiment with their sexuality."

"I don't know why," Micah said with a shrug. "I just feel that way. I can't explain it. Anyway, I would really like to change the subject now. I don't want to think about this anymore. I'm not ever going to do it again, and I'm not going to cheat on you. Ever. So don't worry about that."

"I wasn't worried about it," Elsa told him. "I know you won't cheat. Amber was a horrible girlfriend and person. She pushed you away, cheated on you regularly, and beat you down so much that you lost all sense of self-worth. You have no idea how much it hurt to watch that happen to you."

Micah let out a huff that almost turned into a laugh, but didn't. "I could say the same about you and Jeremy. He was a bossy, controlling, abusive prick. I want to kick his ass so badly."

"I know. Next time we see him, feel free. I'm fed up with his crap."

"Oh, speaking of. Do you remember who it is that attacked you?"

"No. But I still remember the voice. If I ever hear it again, I'll know it."

"Man, I don't understand how you can't remember the face of the guy that did that to you."

"I don't know either," Elsa said.

"So now what? Are you still upset with me?" Micah asked.

"Only with the fact that you kept that secret from me this whole time. We made that promise together, Micah. No more secrets. I told you the most shameful things about myself that nobody knew, but you didn't want to tell me yours. How are we going to trust one another if we keep these secrets from each other?"

"I know. I'm sorry. I honestly thought you would leave me because of it."

"Sweetheart, I almost left you because of how you treated Rose. But now I know why, and apparently she does too. So, while it was still a shitty thing to do, I at least understand why now. Just, you can't do this. You have to be open and honest with me if we are going to make this work."

"Okay. I won't ever do that again."

Micah leaned back onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling. He was trying desperately to make sense of it all. The whole thing seemed absurd, and he really didn't know why he was disgusted with himself. What he did seemed horrible and shameful, but then if he felt that way about himself, that would mean he'd have to feel that way about one of his closest friends. The thing was, he didn't. He loved Rose as a friend, and honestly didn't want anything bad to happen to her, or to Harley. He was warming up to her too. He even fully supported them, just as he had said to Rose. But when it came to himself, it was wrong.

He wanted to ask Elsa what that could mean, but didn't. Instead, he chose to remain silent. Not knowing might have been the best course of action in this case. Or so he thought. He didn't want to think about it anymore. What he wanted was for it to fade away into obscurity and never come to the forefront of his mind ever again.

00000

 _Screaming. There was nothing but screaming._

 _The halls of the house were filled with the echoes of a little girl's screams, but it seemed to stretch on forever. Every door was locked tight, and every lightbulb would burn out and shatter as Elsa ran by. It was disorienting, the wailing, and it was so much so that she was almost sure she had run right past the door that hid away its source. But the sound never grew louder or quieter. It was still as shrill and ear-piercing as when it first started._

 _As she ran, she could hear something chasing her through the twists and turns of the halls. It never showed itself, but she could hear the grunting and groaning, and it was horrifying. It sounded as if it was drawing near, so she had to keep going. There was no looking back, even for a second. If she did, the thing would catch her and she'd be gone._

 _Soon she came to a fork. It stumped her, because she had no way of knowing if she should head to the right or the left. There was no indicator as to which would be the correct path. Unfortunately, time was against her and she had to choose. So in a rash of fear and haste, she chose the left and ran._

 _Behind her, she could hear the thing yell into the darkness, frustration clearly marked in its voice. She could hear the thing thrashing around and breaking glass, then it slowly faded away. But the screaming persisted. That never faded or ended. It was almost like a record stuck on repeat. It sounded like the little girl was in pain. Elsa knew that she had to get to her and help as soon as possible._

 _It had been some time since she last checked one of the doors, and when she stopped to try one, she heard the beast that had chased her before coming straight for her. In a panic, she fiddled with one of the doors in the hall, trying frantically to open it. It almost felt like the thing was stuck. The sound of the beast was getting closer. That's when she decided to try and kick the door in. She tried several times, and the door would simply rattle without budging. Then she tried the handle once more, and as the sound was only feet away, the door gave way and she fell face first into the room._

 _It was a vast, empty space. Almost pitch black, except for the slivers of moonlight that cast deep shadows here and there. Where the light was coming from, she had no idea. There were no windows to be seen. Everything was enveloped in a velvety blanket of pure darkness. Even the sound of her breathing was muted in comparison to before. It was as if the gloom was choking whatever noise was made._

 _The room was covered in a thick layer of dust, as if it had laid undisturbed for ages. It irritated her throat, and caused her to cough, but almost no noise came out. It sounded distant and muffled. Then there was another sound. Something that was indeed distant. A loud scraping sound, like a chain dragged along the floor. It came from directly behind her where the door was, but when she looked back there was nothing there. The door was gone._

 _"Hello?" she called out, only to receive silence in return._

 _Wrapping her arms around her belly, Elsa slowly walked through the darkness towards the other end of the room, praying that there was nothing hiding. Sadly, there was. She could suddenly hear the moaning and groaning from before, like the beast that had chased her through the halls. Then she heard the chains rattling and scraping again. It was more distinct this time, and louder. Perhaps she had gone too far in the wrong direction._

 _"El...sa..." a familiar voice called out. She had heard it somewhere before. It was so familiar to her, yet it was foreign and animal in nature. "El...sa..."_

 _"No. Stay away from me!" she shouted defiantly. She knew the voice now._

 _She could hear the scraping again, this time coming closer, and that strange moaning sound was louder and caused her to shudder. It, too, was familiar. It brought tears to her eyes._

 _"Come...I need you..." the voice groaned seductively._

 _"Go to hell!" Elsa screamed at the top of her lungs._

 _Then there was a chuckle, throaty and deep. It came from everywhere at once, and she had no idea what was causing it. She just knew she wanted it to stop. It reawakened ancient feelings, feelings that should have stayed buried._

 _"What's wrong, precious?" the voice mocked._

 _For a brief moment, Elsa felt something on the back of her neck, like someone's warm breath, causing to her to jump and spin around as quickly as she could only to find nothing was there. Then she heard something that she hadn't expected to hear. Crying._

 _She felt her way through the dark, doing her best to move further and further away from the voice, until she came to what felt like a wall. It was cold to the touch, and felt like stone, but it was solid and sturdy which was all that mattered. Then, as she felt her way along the wall, the crying grew louder. Over her shoulder off towards the center of the chamber she could see movement in the slivers of shifting light. It was accompanied by the scraping and groaning._

 _"Elsa, dear, come out of hiding," it called out again. It was starting to sound angry._

 _Choosing to remain silent, Elsa kept feeling her way through the darkness, terrified she'd trip over something unseen. Moments later, as if on cue, she did actually trip over something, and it made a grunting sound. But the crying had stopped._

 _As she felt around for what it was that tripped her, her hands landed on something warm. It was shivering, whatever it was, and sniffling. She quickly assumed it had been the source of the weeping just moments ago. Every time she touched the poor thing, it would flinch and back away._

 _"Shh, I'm not going to hurt you," Elsa whispered as quietly as she could. "I'm here to get you out."_

 _"Please, don't tell him where I am," a small voice whispered back. It, too, sounded familiar. Too familiar._

 _"Here, take my hand and we will find a way out of here together."_

 _The timid little thing reluctantly took her hand, and they walked aimlessly through the dark, keeping close to the wall. The poor thing was still shivering, but it was brave enough to follow Elsa's lead, and she had no idea where they were going. She just knew that forward was better than where she had been._

 _"Damn it, girl! You get out here right now, or you will be in more trouble than you already are!" the voice shouted angrily. The sound of the chains scraping and clinking was loud and erratic now, and the thumping of feet on the ground could be felt throughout the room._

 _Elsa could hear her little companion whimper, and she tightened her grip on the child's hand. They were still skirting the outside of the room, but now there were more slivers of light, and she could actually see some windows on the far end. They looked to be boarded up, and the light was still finding a way to seep through the cracks. It was much brighter here than it had been before. She could see well enough to find that her new friend was a little girl. A very familiar little girl._

 _"What's your name?" Elsa asked the girl in a vain effort to calm her._

 _"Elsa," the girl replied moments later. "Please don't take me back to him."_

 _"No, you're never going back to him ever again."_

 _After a few minutes of tiptoeing by the windows, they could see the chains that had the beast locked up. The older girl was sure it was the same thing that was chasing her through the hallways earlier. Strangely, she couldn't remember how she had gotten here. She just woke up and there she was, in a dark, cold room. When she had escaped, the thing started to give chase. That's when the screaming started._

 _"Was that you that was screaming before?" the older girl asked quietly as they lightly stepped over the chains._

 _"Yes," the little girl admitted._

 _"Why?"_

 _"Because of 'him'."_

 _"What did he do?"_

 _"I don't want to talk about it."_

 _Familiar words. The same words she used to speak. The memory of why was slowly seeping back in. Then the images, playing through her mind like on a reel-to-reel, reminding her of what she had lived through in a time where nobody was there to save her. Nobody. It was lonely being so isolated by the kind of fear that no one should have to endure. But she had managed._

 _"Elsa, god damn it! I will not tell you again! Get the hell out here right now!" the beast roared. The chains quickly grew taut, and the girls hurried themselves away as fast as they could._

 _Unfortunately, little Elsa stumbled over something sticking out of the floor, causing a tiny bit of noise, but it was enough to alert the beast to their location. The older girl firmly gripped the child by the hand, lifted her back onto her feet, and began to run head-on into the black. They could hear the beast roar and scrambling behind them, giving chase and drawing near._

 _It happened so fast that she didn't have time to react. In a flash, the beast was on top of them, and had the older girl pinned to the floor, tearing at her. She started screaming, but was fighting back as hard as she could. She was cut and scraped, but it didn't stop her._

 _"Run, Elsa!" she shouted at the little girl who stood nearby, frozen by fear._

 _The little girl nodded and did as she was told, and ran off into the darkness. The older girl was quickly losing her battle with the horrible creature, who was tearing at her clothes more than her. His growling had turned into moaning, and had started groping her everywhere. She kept on screaming and fighting, but it was in vain. She had lost. That's when she felt it. The most horrible pain imaginable._

00000

Elsa shot straight up in her bed, screaming. It took a few moments to realize she was back in her room, and that Micah was laying beside her. Or had been, until she woke up with that frightful scream.

"Els, are you alright?" he asked as he sat up beside her.

She didn't answer him right away. Instead, she threw her arms around his neck and started sobbing into his shirt. He immediately knew what was wrong, and pulled her up onto his lap, cradled her with his arms, and slowly began to rock back and forth.

"Baby, it's okay, it was just a dream," Micah said as soothingly as possible. "It wasn't real."

"Yes, it was!" Elsa cried. "All of it was real! But why? Why me!?"

The sobbing only became louder, and he just sat there and rocked her as best he could, holding her tight and running a hand through her disheveled hair. He refused to let up, and kept urging and pleading with her to calm down. It only fell on deaf ears.

"Why did he do that to me!?" Elsa sobbed. "Why did he have to do that to me!? I was his daughter, Micah! His flesh and blood!"

"I don't know, sweetheart," Micah said quietly. "I don't. If I could take that all away, I would. You know I would. But he is gone now. He's locked away where he can't hurt you ever again."

"But I was his daughter! His daughter! He should have loved me like a normal father should! But he was so sick and he chose me! He hurt me, Micah! For years! Why me!? Why!?"

She was shouting into his chest, muffling much of what she said. Micah's shirt was quickly soaked through, but he didn't care. What really mattered was calming the girl he loved from her hysteria. This was something he had never seen before. Not once since they had been together had this happened. He had no idea how to handle it.

Eventually, after what was close to a half-hour of constant crying and weeping, Elsa finally calmed a little. She had curled up into a ball in his lap and had a deathly tight grip on his shirt with her hand. She was still shuddering and whimpering a little, but she had calmed down considerably. The quiet of the room seemed soothing to her, as was his constant rocking. He hadn't given up on that, even though his back was getting a little sore.

At some point, he was able to coax her into crawling back under the covers with him and face him. As soon as they were beside each other she had his shirt in her grip again. He never could figure out why she did that, but he assumed it helped. It must have been a comfort thing. Gazing into his eyes, she didn't have any emotion on her face at all. Not happy, or sad, or scared, or even tired. It was blank. It was impossible for him to tell what was on her mind. But her eyes were horribly bloodshot and puffy from the crying.

"Whatcha thinking, baby?" Micah quietly asked, running a thumb across her cheek.

"I wish I was dead," Elsa whispered.

"No, you don't. You don't mean that."

"Yes I do. If I was dead I wouldn't have to do this anymore. The nightmares would stop."

This caused Micah to frown, but he didn't say anything more. He knew that she was just being dramatic because of her dream, but it still worried him. The therapy she had undergone for so long helped mostly, and he knew that there would be slips here and there. But, the sad thing was, it wasn't fail-proof. It wasn't a complete guarantee and cure. She was still going to have times where this would happen. It just had never happened at 2 am before.

"I want you to know, Elsa, that you never did anything wrong," Micah reminded her. "You did nothing to deserve what happened to you. You have to remember that your father is very sick. What he did was not okay and not normal. But you never deserved it, and you never did anything wrong. Okay? Do you understand?"

"But he told me that I was bad, that I deserved what I got," Elsa said, looking away from him. "He said he wanted to show me what true love was. I was only seven, Micah. I was only seven. I was too young. But I had to make sure he never touched Anna. I had to keep her safe. That was my job. As long as it was just me, Anna was okay."

"Elsa, you can't rationalize this. You needed to tell someone. You told me, but you didn't want me to say anything. Why?"

"Because I was so god damn scared of what would happen if we did tell someone. Micah, I was still a kid when he was caught. I was naive and stupid and afraid of everything."

"I just wish I understood what was going on in that head of yours. You scare me sometimes."

"You don't want to know what goes on in my head. I am so screwed up that you would be terrified of ever speaking to me again. You wouldn't love me anymore."

"That's no true, Elsa," Micah tried to tell her.

"I'm eternally grateful that you have feelings for me at all," Elsa said. "You do help calm my nerves and almost always keep the nightmares away. I don't know what happened tonight. I usually feel very safe with you."

"I will never hurt you, you know that."

"I know. But do you remember that secret I shared with you?"

"Yeah, I remember. It honestly frightens me."

"Well, I still feel like I deserve to be punished. Like no matter what, I did something wrong and should be punished for it. Hurt."

"What was your dream about?" Micah asked, unsure he actually wanted an answer.

"You don't want to know. Just know it was about him and change the subject," Elsa told him.

"Okay. Do you ever dream about Jeremy?"

"...Yes. Sometimes I dream about both of them at the same time. At least I used to."

"I hope you can get past this someday. I really do."

"Me too."

They laid there for bit in silence. He still had his hand cupping her cheek and was running his thumb across to try and comfort her. It seemed to be working, as she enjoyed it and leaned into his hand a little. Every now and then he would lean over and place a very chaste and soft kiss to her temple.

"Do you think you'll ever want to have kids?" Micah asked after some time.

Elsa shrugged lamely before replying. "I don't know if that would ever be a good idea. I mean, what if I end up hurting them?"

"Why the hell would you hurt them?"

"Because, it's common in child abuse victims for them to perpetrate the same crimes onto others. In parents, it can be their children. What if I become that person? I would be as horrible and disgusting as him."

"Baby, I don't see you doing that. I think you would make a great mother to our children. I can't imagine you ever hurting them like that."

"Wait, you want to have kids with me?"

"Of course I do. I want to have a future with you."

"So you really believe we'll manage to stay together then, in spite of everything?" Elsa asked.

"Yes, I do," Micah replied. "Look, we get along insanely well together. We almost never fight, and when we do we're over it almost instantly. We both love each other a crazy amount, and I know for a fact that you will never cheat on me. The only issue we seem to have is keeping things from one another."

"How are we ever going to work on that? If we keep secrets from each other, how will we ever grow as a couple? How do you think we will last?"

"We won't. That's why we have to make sure we're honest. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about that thing earlier. I should have. It would have avoided so much trouble if I had just come forward about it and told you when we first got together. But now you know every dark secret I have, just like I know all of yours. We have nothing else to hide from each other. So, from here on out, we have to tell each other everything. Okay? No more secrets and lies."

"Okay. I promise. But you have to make the promise too."

"I swear to God that I will never keep another secret from you or lie to you ever again."


	38. Chapter 38 - Pet Projects

**A/N: I am so sorry for not uploading yesterday, and then being so late today. A few things came up, and I wasn't able to get to it until now. So for those of you that faithfully waited and were disappointed, I apologize profusely.**

 **This chapter is pretty laid back. No real story significance of any kind happens. It's just the gang doing their own things. So, if that doesn't interest you at all, then you can skip this chapter altogether. But remember, this is a slice of life story, so it's inevitable to have stuff like this.**

 **Anyway, I hope you do read it and enjoy how different it is to everything. It's basically pure fluff.**

 **Take care and enjoy.**

 **Chapter 38**

 _Pet Projects_

"Okay, Elsa, I think this top would look great on you," Harley said as she held up a lime green tank top.

Elsa glanced over at her and grimaced, mostly because of the color. True, she wasn't much into wearing tank tops unless it was unbearably hot out, but lime green was an atrocious color in her opinion. Besides, the thing looked awfully small. Too small, actually.

"Um, I don't really care for the color," Elsa replied. "Maybe if it were a blue or something...wait, it looks really short."

"Well, yeah. It's supposed to show off that sexy belly of yours. Oh! You should totally get a belly button piercing!"

"No, I don't think so. I have enough piercings."

"You only have two, babe," Rose said as she was rummaging through a rack of shirts she was actually considering trying on.

"Two is plenty," Elsa countered. "I don't need as many piercings as you have."

"Maybe not. But you would look great with a few more."

They had decided to take Elsa clothes shopping after a long week of her having constant nightmares and slowly slipping back into a deep depression again. This was primarily Harley's idea to try and cheer her up, and the four girls decided to go ahead and just do it. Or Rose, Harley, and Anna decided to drag Elsa into it. She was very much against the idea at first, but after some major coaxing from the others, plus pleading and urging from Micah to do something fun with the girls, Elsa caved and went along with it. She wasn't the typical girl that liked to go shopping for clothes, but her friends were trying their hardest to cheer her up, so she felt obligated to at least give it a shot.

They had wandered the mall for nearly thirty minutes before Harley had enough and started forcefully ushering Elsa into every clothing store they came across. Most places were a bust, as Elsa was horribly picky about what she wore. Just like she had told them in the past, she preferred her band tee shirts and skinny jeans to just about anything else they could find. She didn't even wear feminine shoes. The pair of black and white Converse she had on was what she liked. Thus, it made it exceptionally hard to shop for her, at least when it came to trying new things. When Jeremy had taken her shopping for clothes, he didn't give her a choice; he told her what to wear and when. No matter how much she argued, he wouldn't listen. At least her friends were willing to listen to her, even if it frustrated them.

What Elsa couldn't understand was why Harley was so adamant about the shopping. The girl already had everything she wanted. She even spent an exorbitant amount of money on Rose's birthday present, meaning the girl was not left wanting for anything. Luckily for her, Rose loved the ring and had been wearing it ever since. Elsa was pretty sure her friend had no idea how much the ring actually was. It didn't matter though. The money seemed like it mattered little to Harley. She wasn't a rich snob or greedy in any way. The girl was always willing to share with everyone. In fact, she loved it. Harley was one of those people that firmly believed in spreading the wealth and sharing it rather than being uptight and selfish. If it brought happiness to others, then that was what mattered to her. She even donated money to charity on occasion, especially those that benefited children or animals in some way. That was just her personality.

"Ooh, how about this one?" Anna asked as she held up a black tee shirt with the print 'Off Limits' in big bold white letters.

This made Elsa cringe. "How about no."

"Well, you are off limits, aren't you?"

"I don't need a shirt that displays that, thank you very much."

"But what if other guys start hitting on you?"

"Anna, what do you think the odds of that happening are?" Elsa asked rhetorically. "It hasn't happened once in my entire life. I don't think it's going to start now."

"But-"

"I said no. Besides, it's right on the chest. Like I need help pointing out that I have boobs."

"Fine," Anna said, defeated. "Although, I don't see where else the words would go."

They ended up looking only a little bit longer before deciding Elsa wasn't going to like anything they showed her. It had been like that in nearly every store they had been to. There had been only one store where they were successful, and it was a plain black tee shirt that she bought with a pair of plain dark blue jeans. The others thought she was being incredibly boring, but Elsa was okay with that. She was simple, and she wanted to keep it that way.

"You know, Micah is eventually going to want to see you wear something new," Rose said as they left the store empty-handed.

"I doubt it. If he did want to, he'd have said something about it by now," Elsa replied.

"Have you ever thought that he was just being nice because he doesn't want to upset you?" Anna said. "I mean, think about it. You guys have only been together a couple months. It's probably not something he's willing to say right this second. But I can promise you he's probably thought it."

"Yeah, remember how he liked you in that dress back when you went on your first date with Jeremy? He loved it. You should do something like that again," Rose added.

"Fine. What do you suggest I do?" Elsa asked.

"Let us actually help you. We're not going to tell you to wear something ugly, or something that we don't think would fit you. Plus, Harley here has good fashion sense. You should let her work her magic at least a little on you."

"Okay. You win. Harley, next store, you pick something out and I'll try it on."

"Yay! This is going to be so much fun! We are totally going to make you hot as hell!" Harley exclaimed excitedly.

"She's already hot as hell," Rose reminded her. "We need to turn this up to eleven."

"I have no idea what you two are going on about," Elsa admitted, "and I think I'd rather keep it that way. Me? Hot as hell? Please, I'm average at best."

Before she could react, Rose smacked her friend up the back of the head much harder than normal. It was enough to actually sting. "Knock that shit off, Elsa. You know full well that you are drop-dead gorgeous. Micah and I tell you this all the time. We wouldn't say that if it weren't true. Even Harley thinks your incredibly hot, so quit with the self-deprecation. You are incredibly beautiful on your own, and you'll manage to pull off anything we throw at you. So get used to it."

"You didn't have to hit me," Elsa whined, still rubbing the back of her head.

"Then don't say that shit anymore," Rose warned her. "You've been doing it for as long as I've known you. It's not true, so stop. Look, there's an Old Navy. Do you want to try there, babe?" The last was to Harley.

"We can give it a shot, but I don't shop there normally. It's not really my type of store. I don't really see Elsa wearing anything from there either," Harley said.

"Okay, well, there's always Hot Topic...but you can't really get a lot there, and Elsa already has pretty much all the shirts she wants from there."

"Ooh, how about we get you a tattoo! You would look amazing with one!" Harley told Elsa.

"No, no tattoos, no new piercings, nothing like that. Alright? Please," Elsa said adamantly, shaking her head and whipping her braid around.

"Oh come on! You should try something new! How about just a nose piercing? A tiny little stud in the nostril. Rose is going to get one. Maybe you guys could do it together?"

"No."

"Come on, Els. We could get matching studs and be besties," Rose teased.

"Absolutely not."

"Okay, now I'm going to be serious. You would look great with one. Just, consider it, alright? It would be a complete change, it would surprise the hell out of Micah, and he would love it. Plus, I don't really want to do mine alone."

Sighing, Elsa's shoulders sagged just a little as she started thinking, realizing that they weren't going to let up. "Look, I'll think about it. No promises. I'm not really keen on the idea though. My ears are pierced, and that's honestly all I want. But we'll see, alright?"

They walked around a little longer before deciding to enter a store with a name in French, _Sens de la Mode._ The name wasn't very clever in any way, but Elsa figured that the average person wouldn't have any clue what it translated into. Most probably liked it because it sounded foreign. In fact, she doubted that the store was even French in origin.

As soon as they entered, Elsa could feel that it was one of those upscale stores that Jeremy would have taken her too if it had been there at the time. It was immediately apparent that she wasn't going to like what they had to offer, but she didn't want to back out of her promise to at least try. So she held her tongue and followed the others in.

There didn't seem to be much that she would like. If she were to be honest, most of the clothing was kind of ugly and superfluous. She couldn't imagine who would wear the stuff. But the store had quite a few other people wandering about, almost all women, and she knew that there were clearly people daft enough to be suckered into buying what she considered to be horrible fashion. People like Jeremy. He would have forced her to buy the most expensive outfits they had if she were still with him. She was incredibly happy that she had cut that cancer from her life a long time ago.

Harley grabbed Elsa by the hand, startling her, and led her towards the far side of the store. There looked to be some relatively normal clothes at this end. "Okay, I know what you were thinking, and you're right. A lot of the stuff in this store is ridiculous, and I would never be caught dead wearing any of it. But this section is more our style, so this is where we're gonna look. I especially like their pants. They have cute designs on them, like the glittery flowers on the butt. They also hug the hips really nicely, so you can use them to maximum effect to just make Micah lose his mind. Here," she said, grabbing a pair of jeans off the rack, "try these. They have little butterflies on them, and they totally look your style. You like the skinny jeans, right?"

"For the most part, yeah. I mean, I'll try any of them on if you really think they'll look good, but I do prefer skinny," Elsa told her.

"Perfect. Give these a try. They should be your size. If not, we'll try another pair. Now, we should probably get you a couple pairs, just in case. No point in just getting one pair of pants. How do you feel about skirts?"

"Um, I haven't worn a skirt since I was eight."

"Okay. So you're not big on the idea then?"

"I didn't say that. I just grew out of it a long time ago. But, if you really think I should try some on, I did promise I would give it a shot."

"Okay. I think you would look good in a miniskirt to be honest. But, I don't think you'd get away with wearing it at school. So if we get you one and you like it, it'd have to be worn at home. What do you think?" Harley asked.

"I don't know. I mean, I felt really self-conscious when I wore a dress. It felt like the entire world could see up underneath it," Elsa said.

"I understand. If you really don't want to try a skirt, then we won't. It's your call."

Elsa thought hard about it for a moment. She hadn't exactly worn anything like that since she was little. It was different back then too. There was no real fear. At least, not with most people. It wasn't long after certain things had transpired that she became very self-conscious and refused to let anyone see her like that. But, she was nearly an adult now. Her life had been much better the last four years. She was also slowly feeling better about herself again, if only slightly.

"Okay. I guess I'll try. What do you have in mind?"

"Well, first we need to see what they have, if anything. Then, we need to find you a couple tops. You would look great in blue or green I think. Other colors would be too bold. Maybe something earthen, like a light brown. Purple wouldn't be too bad either, but I want to get you out of the dark tones. A light violet could work. Oh, come here."

Before Elsa could say anything, Harley had her by the hand and was dragging her through the store again to another rack of clothes. As soon as they stopped, she was already digging through the shirts, completely engrossed in her mission to find something that Elsa would like or look good in.

"Here we go. It looks like it's Egyptian blue, it's cute, it doesn't have any text on it, and just has the outline of a flower on the front. It might show off a little skin, but it will at least reach your waistline. It would look good with those jeans or even a skirt if we can find one. Plus it'll compliment your eyes. Now we just need to find you one more..."

They ended up looking through two more racks of shirts with no real luck. Harley was trying to avoid getting her two shirts of the same color, and was looking for something green or brown, but found nothing that she considered good looking. But she refused to give up. She was bound and determined to find something good for her friend.

"How do you feel about butterflies?" she eventually asked Elsa.

"Um, I guess they're alright. Why?" Elsa wondered.

"Because I just found a cute brown tee shirt with a rainbow butterfly on it, and I think it would look good with those pants. But if you don't like the design, then we can keep looking."

"I'll try it if you really think it'll work. I promised I would."

"You don't have to do that if you really don't feel comfortable, Elsa. This is meant to be fun. I'm not trying to pressure you into anything you don't want. The whole point of this was to get you out of your house so we can cheer you up. But it's been obvious since we started that it's not working."

"It's not that, Harley. It's just I'm not the kind of girl that does a lot of clothes shopping. I don't feel the need to have different outfits for everything. I'm very simple."

"I know you are," Harley said, "and all I'm trying to do is help you feel more confident in different things. Plus, I want you to really wow Micah. We haven't even gone to look at makeup yet."

"Makeup? Nobody told me that was part of this," Elsa replied nervously.

"Elsa, sweetie, I'm trying to help. I want to give you a sort of makeover. You'll love it, I promise. Besides, it's something I've thought about going to school for once high school is done."

"You want to get into cosmetology?" Elsa asked.

"Yeah. It's all I'm really good at, and I enjoy doing it. But I'm not just talking about some lame job at a department store. I kind of want to get into doing special effects makeup and stuff. Or at least opening my own place where I can help people learn different styles and techniques. I even thought about simultaneously being a hairstylist. Open a salon of some kind. I know it's not a big, glamorous dream, but it's what I kind of want to do. I can make good money doing it, I enjoy doing it, and I could be real competitive if I want. But I'd have to hire people that want to go above and beyond the normal everyday styles."

"I had no idea. It sounds like you've put a lot of thought into this."

"I have. I've talked about it with Rose, and she fully supports it. Have you noticed that she's started wearing some makeup too?" Harley asked.

Looking back over her shoulder, Elsa scanned the store for her sister and friend. They were off looking at some dresses that she could only imagine the price of. "Honestly, I wasn't paying attention. Sorry."

"It's fine. I gave her some makeup that would more blend in than make her stand out. She's a little darker skinned than you, but not by much. So I gave her some very earthy tones. You'd be surprised how many shades there are to brown and green. I did manage to give her cheeks the tiniest bit of color with some blush. Next time you look at her, really look. You'll notice a slight difference.

"As for you, there's a lot we could do. Now, I'm not saying your mother did a bad job, because honestly, I like what she did. But we could do more. I want to show you how to really do eyeshadow, learn to use eyeliner, concealer, all that stuff. Not that you need that much. You have a beautiful face as it is. But we can make you glow with the right look. Oh! Look! Skirts!"

Once again, Elsa was dragged through the store to yet another clothes rack. This time, there were skirts of different sizes and looks. It was overwhelming.

"Aha! We just found exactly what I was talking about. Here, a simple black pleated miniskirt. I want you to try this on. It'll look really good with the blue shirt," Harley told her.

Before she knew it, Elsa was being guided, rather forcefully she thought, towards the dressing rooms. Moments later, she was shoved into a booth with the clothes in hand. There was a tall, full-length body mirror that she was staring into like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car. She had no idea why she was so scared. It wasn't really any different from what she did with her mother in ninth grade.

Soon, she was standing there in her underwear as she was attempting to talk herself into trying the miniskirt. After about two minutes of procrastination, she finally just gave in and did it. Once she had it and that blue shirt on, she looked in the mirror and gawked. She actually looked pretty good she thought. It showed off more skin than she was comfortable with, but at least she was trying.

"Okay, I'm coming out!" Elsa called out, and she could just imagine Harley getting excited.

When she stepped out, all three of them were standing there expectantly. Then, as if in unison, all three gawked just as much as she had moments ago. Elsa assumed it was a good thing.

"Holy shit, Els, I didn't think I'd live long enough to see you like this," Rose said with a whistle.

"Yeah, Micah is going to love this," Anna added.

"You have great legs. I can't believe it. I mean, I knew you'd have good legs, but holy hell! Elsa, you really should dress like this more often," Harley demanded. "I don't think Micah could handle it though. He'd probably have to fight off way too many guys."

"I highly doubt I look nearly as good as you're making it sound, but thanks anyway," Elsa said with a slight smile.

"Are you kidding? You have amazing thighs, and those hips are delicious. Alright, go try the other stuff on so we can buy it and get out of here."

After another showing of her new clothes, they were at the register and paying for everything. It was Harley's treat, which was a good thing because Elsa couldn't afford the clothes at the prices they were at. Once they were done there, Harley was leading the gang down to the other end of the mall where a store that sold some of her favorite makeup brands was located. Luckily, they didn't spend nearly as much time there as they did looking for clothes.

As soon as they entered, Harley was once again dragging Elsa through the store, grabbing different makeups and telling her why she was choosing that particular product and color over the others, although she would occasionally ask Elsa her opinion on her options. Eventually, after several hundred dollars worth of makeup, they were back out in the main part of the mall and headed towards the food court.

They debated amongst themselves what to eat, but eventually settled on some Thai food. Anna wasn't thrilled with the choice, but she decided to go ahead and go with it. There was a teriyaki place on the opposite end of the food court, but she was the only one that liked that type of food as much as she did. As they sat to eat, Elsa had that strange sensation that someone was watching her. She took a quick glance around, but didn't see anyone she recognized, so shrugged it off and sat.

"So, tonight when we get back to your place, it's makeover time. I promise I won't do much with your hair, if anything, but I'll be making you look sexy as hell. Trust me, you'll like what I do," Harley said as she took a sip from her drink.

"Yeah, if she can put makeup on my face and make it look half-way decent, she'll do wonders with you. Er, not that you need it. Okay, sorry, that sounded really bad," Rose said as she smacked her forehead.

"Can we do me too?" Anna asked enthusiastically.

"Sure," Harley told her happily. "You're just about as pale as your sister, so I'm sure what I have will work. We can always stop off at my place and grab my stuff though. I have all sorts of makeup. Probably more than someone our age should have."

"But what about Micah? He's going to come home at some point," Elsa reminded them.

"Don't worry," Anna assured her. "We already have it planned out. He's staying with Kris tonight so we can do this. They're doing guy stuff anyway. I think he said that they were going to go look at this old car that they found on Craigslist. I don't know. All I know is we have the whole night to just the four of us."

"You guys are hellbent on doing this to me, aren't you?"

"Yes. Deal with it, blondie," Rose teased. "Besides, we've never really had a girls night before. Plus, how often have we done girly stuff together? Never. Harley here is the girliest one out of all of us. So, she's gonna teach us how to be girly as hell. Or at the very least, how to look good."

"I didn't know you were into this sort of thing," Elsa said with a raised eyebrow.

"Eh, it's a more recent thing. I guess she's rubbing off on me. But I will say it's actually kind of fun. It feels weird saying it though."

"Well, to be honest, you're the one that was always going on about how to be sexy. So this shouldn't really be outside your comfort zone. But that's not the case for me. This is way outside of my comfort zone."

"Elsa, I think it's a very good thing that you step outside of that zone and do something new and exciting. To me, this is exciting. I get to see my friend take on a whole new look just in order to dazzle the man she loves. Sure, we may have coaxed and prodded you into doing it, but you will not regret it. You're going to love how you look when I'm done with you," Harley declared.

"Maybe. I don't know. The little makeup I normally use has always been more than enough. I can't imagine what you're going to have me do."

"You'll see. We made sure to get you all colors that will compliment your pale and smooth complexion. Nothing bright or dark. It's all light and mild tones and colors. Just trust me. It'll work."

After they ate, they threw away their trash and headed back out of the mall towards Rose's car. Once again, Elsa had that feeling that she was being watched. She glanced back over her shoulder, but still didn't see anyone suspicious. Eventually she just chocked it up to her dislike of crowds as they left the mall.

00000

"So where exactly are we headed again?" Micah asked as he rolled down the passenger window.

"Far end of Carbanado, which isn't really that bad since the town is tiny," Kristoff replied.

They were in his truck heading up the hill from town towards Bonney Lake, then to their destination on the other side. It was close to a forty minute drive, but that was mostly due to traffic and the fact that they didn't know where exactly they were headed. Their GPS had already had them turn down the wrong road a couple times. Micah just figured their phones were being stubborn, but he wasn't entirely sure after the third bad direction that it gave. He thought maybe something was just off with the app in general.

"Google Maps is usually pretty good about this sort of thing, so I have no idea why it's giving us so much trouble. Wait, it says to turn here...but there is no road in that direction. What the hell?"

"Bro, it's fine. I've got this. I know where we're headed. I got the directions off the computer this morning, remember?"

"Yeah, but what if those directions were wrong too?" Micah asked.

"They're not. Trust me."

They had turned onto SR 410 after about ten minutes of driving south on the freeway, and were currently heading east towards the small town. At some point, Micah wasn't sure when, the GPS actually started cooperating with them. They had found an old 1969 Ford Mustang for sale on Craigslist for a great price, and now they just had to head up to the owner's place and make a payment to pick it up...provided it was in good enough condition for them to want it. The pictures on the ad made it look like it was decent enough, although they knew the engine was going to need some work. Thankfully, they had Kristoff's dad to help with that.

After roughly another fifteen minutes of scenic driving through the hills, they came to a turn off that led down an old and weathered road. The condition was bad enough to rattle the truck mercilessly. Off to one side was a fenced-off field with some alpacas, which were somewhat popular in the area, and on the other was just nothing but trees. It felt about as backwoods as one could get this close to the city. At the end of the road was an old yellow house, and it had definitely seen better days. There was a rusty brown barn behind it, and the boys assumed that whoever lived there owned the alpacas too.

"Alright, this is the place. At least according to the directions we got. Hopefully this'll work out," Kristoff said, not sounding too sure himself.

"I'm just curious. Let's say this works out and the car is ours. How do we plan on getting it home?" Micah asked for the dozenth time.

"Like I told you before we left, I have a tow cable in back. We'll just have to be super careful on the way back. No big deal."

"Have you ever actually towed anything before?"

"Yeah, I've had to tow my mom's car several times to the shop. This shouldn't be a problem."

As they climbed out of the truck, an older gentleman stepped out of the house and waved at them. He was in his sixties, his very short hair mostly gray, and he had a dark blue polo shirt on that was tucked into his jeans. He seemed incredibly friendly, at least when Kristoff talked to him over the phone the day before. He also liked to talk about his family, which was something Kris could relate to. They ended up talking for almost an hour just about family and some of the stories they had. It seemed to warm the old guy up to them, which was definitely in their favor. The old guy ended up lowering the price by $200 just because he liked them so much. So now he was only asking for $1,600. After they did a price check online, they found out that they were basically robbing the poor man. It made them both feel kind of guilty.

"You must be the young man I spoke to yesterday!" the old timer exclaimed as he made his way over. "It's a pleasure to meet you!"

"It's great to meet you too, Mr. Grant," Kristoff replied, holding out his hand to shake the old man's.

"Please, Carl is fine. Mr. Grant is for debt collectors and people I don't like. You I like. This way boys."

He showed them around to the back of the house where the barn was, and pointed at a large blue tarp that was clearly covering the vehicle. When he pulled it back, there was a cloud of dust and dirt that whipped into the air, causing the boys to choke just a little. The car itself wasn't in that bad of shape, at least not on the outside. It was supposed to be a jet black with a white pinstripe down the length of the vehicle but the paint was chipped and worn. The windows all seemed to be in tact at least, and there was only one small dent that they could see on the rear fender on the driver's side. What had hit it there didn't do much, but it was enough to chip the paint. That was probably due to the age though. There were flecks of rust poking through the cracks in the paint.

When they opened it up, it definitely smelled like it had sat there for a very long time. It was incredibly dusty inside, and they could smell mildew in the headliner. Some of the upholstery was cracked and torn, and there was a big gash in the back seat. The back seat was a bench instead of bucket seats, meaning they could fit three to four people in there. Perfect for the girls, since all four of them were tiny. The trunk was kind of dirty, with grease rags and a rusted tire iron just sitting loose inside. But it was in good shape otherwise, if not incredibly tiny. They definitely wouldn't be taking any wild trips in it.

Under the hood was a different matter. Everything was rusty and greasy. There were even signs that something had built a nest inside at one point. It was clear that the thing hadn't been started up in a very long time, but how long the old man hadn't said. They could see there were a few things that definitely needed repairs, and a couple hoses that needed to be replaced. The contacts on the batteries were heavily corroded, and they could almost smell the acid from it. It also smelled of urine, cat urine to be precise, which meant that it had housed several different species of wildlife at some point.

"Well, what do you boys think?" Carl asked after the tour.

"I think we have a lot of work to do, but I'm totally looking forward to it!" Kristoff said happily.

"Yeah, this is going to be interesting. Not cheap either. Hopefully your dad will be able to help out a bit," Micah said.

"Yeah man, don't worry about that. Pops will help. He already said he would. Besides, this was sort of his idea. He wanted to get me a classic car, and this is pretty damn classic."

"Well, this is one hell of a gift, let me tell you," Carl said proudly. "Now, I'm not into collecting old things, in spite of the fact that a lot of the stuff around here is pretty old. I've been wanting to get rid of this thing for a while now. Not that I don't appreciate it, but clearly it hasn't seen any use in a long time. But it's a car for young folks like you two. That's why I'm giving it to you at such a low price. Don't think I didn't look into the value of it. But honestly, I don't need the money a collector would buy it for, and I don't want to think about it sitting in some old guy's garage just being used for car shows. I want it to see some real use. So fix this baby up, take your girlfriends out on dates, and try and enjoy what this thing can do."

This made both boys grin. "So, does it still run?" Kristoff asked.

"I highly doubt it. It's sat here for so long. The gas is probably bad and I can guarantee it needs an oil change. Plus the spark plugs are most likely shot. Honestly, I wouldn't try starting this up right now. Do you have any plans on how to get it home?"

"Yeah, we brought a tow cable just in case."

"Excellent. Let's hook this baby up and get it the hell out of here."

It took them nearly half an hour to rig the thing up and pull it out of the barnyard out onto the street. The truck definitely proved it could handle the weight of the car, considering it was much heavier than modern cars. But it moved, and surprisingly the tires held in the air that Carl was kind of enough to put in them. Once they were parked back outside, Kristoff had to hop out in order to hand over the check to Mr. Grant, and then they were on their way back home.

"So, you said you saw Jeremy a couple weeks ago?" Micah asked as they slowly made their way back out to the main road.

"Yeah. It was a couple days before Rose's birthday," Kristoff told him. "It was at the mall. Anna and I were there getting Rose her presents when we spotted him and one of his buddies at the food court. We decided to grab a bite to eat, and followed them out after they got up to leave. We followed him out to his car, where I decided to have a little talk with the punk. Nearly choked him to death, then laid him out on the ground before walking away. He's damn lucky I had Anna with me too, because if it wasn't for her he'd be dead."

"I so desperately want to kick his ass. I don't care when or where, but it's something I have to do. After what that son of a bitch did to Elsa, that's the least he deserves."

"Don't worry, man. You'll have your chance. We have all of this year for it to happen, and I wouldn't be upset at all if we just hunted him down and did it. That may sound dirty and illegal, and it probably is, but I don't give a damn anymore. The guy has zero respect for her, and he's still threatening and harassing her. Plus we know he's the one that beat the hell out of her, so really he has it coming."

"Soon then," Micah said. "That's what I want. I want to resolve all of this and send a clear message to the bastard that he better back off. He is screwing with the wrong girl. I'm done putting up with his bullshit. Elsa has already given me permission to beat the hell out of him, and that's exactly what I plan to do. Next time I see him, he's gonna wish he was dead."

The drive back to Kristoff's was slow, and there were a few hairy instances along the way, but they did manage to finally arrive safe and sound. Neither of them were sure that they would make it considering all the hills that they had to drive over. But, they were home and that's really the only thing that mattered. So, when they pulled into the cul de sac, they had to unhitch the car and manually push it up the driveway into the garage where Kris' father had made room. Nobody else was home at the moment, so it was just the boys.

After they got it situated inside, they went into the house and grabbed a couple Cokes from the fridge before crashing on the couch. They didn't say much for a few minutes, but there really wasn't much that needed to be said. The girls were out hopefully having fun, and the two of them had guy stuff to do. Or at the very least, they would once Kristoff's father got home. He'd be able to go over the car and see what would need to be done first, and then they'd start writing up a list of parts they might need. Of course, no work was going to be done right away. That would take a bit to get to. That and a lot of money. They didn't have the kind of money that Harley did, so they couldn't just waste it on whatever. They had to know exactly what they were going to need and get exactly that at the best price they could manage.

"I think I'm gonna go call Elsa and let her know we're back with the car," Micah finally said after he finished his coke.

"Alright bro. Tell her I said hi," Kristoff told him.

As he stepped outside, Micah realized just how bright and beautiful the sky was. There was a fresh breeze blowing through the neighborhood, one of the neighbors was outside watering their rosebush, and the kids across the street were running around having fun. It was a lovely summer day, and he hadn't noticed it until just then.

Once he had Elsa's number dialed in, he simply waited for her to answer. He wasn't even sure that she would, considering that they were supposed to be out at the mall shopping. But, it only took her about five seconds to answer, and it actually surprised him.

 _"Hey sweetheart, how'd it go?"_

"It went well. The old guy is really cool, and he even knocked the price down for us a bit too."

 _"That's great! Kristoff's dad has to be happy about that."_

"Yeah, he seemed pleased with it. Once he gets back from running errands, he's gonna go over the car and see what needs to be done. He wants us to learn how to do all of this stuff, and he said that there are videos on YouTube that can walk us through the whole thing. So that's what we're gonna do. I'm pretty excited to be honest. Never really done this sort of guy stuff before."

 _"I'm really glad to hear that. I hope you enjoy it. I really do. I think this will be good for you."_

"Yeah, I think so too. I just hope it's not too overwhelming. You know how frustrated that gets me."

 _"I know, but you're really smart and can figure things out fast enough when you put the effort into it. It's not really any different from your math lessons. More often than not, you know the material better than you give yourself credit for."_

"I guess. How are things with you?"

 _"They're okay. The girls are trying to torture me with new clothes and makeup. We're back at home now, and right at the moment Anna is getting a tutorial on how to put lipstick on. Harley is super patient and a really good teacher. I don't know how she got so good at this stuff, but she is amazing."_

"I've never heard you talk about this stuff that way before. It sounds like you're sort of getting into it."

 _"I think it's slowly sinking in that I need to do this. I've come to realize that my clothes are boring and the small amount of makeup I use could do with some additions. Not that I want to be one of those girls that cakes on tons of the stuff to try and look like a whore. That's not me. But I want to learn how to do it properly so I can dress up for special occasions. I'd like to actually be more girly than I have been."_

"I don't think your clothes are boring, but whatever."

 _"I didn't think you would. But after talking to everyone, they pointed out that I definitely need a change. So I got a couple things that might surprise you. I hope it doesn't upset you."_

"Why would it upset me?"

 _"Because of how different it is."_

"I'm sure I'll like it. You look good in everything you wear."

 _"Thank you. But this is really different. You'll see when you come home tomorrow."_

"Now I'm not sure I want to wait."

 _"Well, too bad. The girls said that this is supposed to be just the four of us, so that's how it's going to be. You and Kris have your own project going on anyway."_

"Yeah, but there isn't much more we can do with it at the moment. It's going to cost a lot of money, and we don't have that right now. So it's going to be done slowly over time. The whole engine is probably going to have to be rebuilt, the interior has some work that needs to be done, and we have to figure out a way to get rid of the moldy smell that's in the headliner. That will probably have to be replaced as well. So yeah, it's gonna be a bit before it's done."

 _"Well, it should keep you guys busy for a while then. Hopefully you'll have the thing up and running by the end of the school year."_

"Maybe. It depends on how much work needs to be done to it."

 _"I know. But still, I'm looking forward to it."_

"Yeah. Hey, um, I just wanted to say that I miss you already. I know that's kind of sad, but I do."

 _"It's okay. I miss you too. I was hoping you'd come home tonight, but that isn't going to happen, so I have to just busy myself with all this makeover nonsense. I figure I might as well enjoy it since I don't have much of a choice."_

"Yeah. I set this up with the others because you needed to have a good time, and I clearly wasn't able to do that for you. You needed to get the hell out of the bedroom and enjoy life for a bit so you didn't dwell on things anymore. I know you've gone through hell, baby, I really do. I've been there for all of it, remember? But you just can't live like that anymore. It's not healthy. So I wanted you to do this and have fun for a change."

 _"I know. Thank you. It means a lot, and believe it or not, it's helping. Anyway, it looks like it's my turn to be turned into a circus clown, so I'll let you go. I'll text you in a bit, okay?"_

"Yeah, sure. I love you."

 _"I love you too."_

"Oh, hey. Kristoff told me to tell you that he says hi."

 _"Okay. Tell him I said hi back. Bye babe."_

Hearing her voice always lifted his spirits and made him feel good, and even when he was in a good mood it just made him feel better. Micah still couldn't get over the fact that they were together. It had been just a little over two months, and a lot had already happened. School was about to start back up in a couple weeks, and he had no idea what to expect going forward. With Anna finally joining them in high school, and the addition of Harley to the group, things were sure to be more interesting than before. Unfortunately, he couldn't tell if that was a good thing or not.

After he re-entered the house, he took his seat back on the couch and just leaned back into it as much as he could. Everything was going alright. Elsa was no longer pissed off at him, he had talked to Rose some more since the incident at her party and things were back to normal between them, and he was looking forward to starting school back up. Overall, things were great. Except for one important detail.

Jeremy.

Micah knew for a fact that he was the one that broke into Elsa's house and beat her bloody and unconscious. He knew that Jeremy was guilty of all the threats and harassment she had endured over the summer. He also knew that the guy was scared of them. Kristoff had already told him that much. Micah wasn't small by any stretch of the imagination, although he wasn't big and burly like Kristoff was. Somehow, that boy was strong as hell, and could fight if needed. Micah's only real experience was chasing away Marshall back in grade school. Luckily they hadn't had to deal with that cancer in a long time. But Jeremy was proving to be as toxic as ever, and didn't seem to learn his lesson. He had been warned by Kristoff on more than one occasion, arrested and placed on a restraining order, expelled and forced to change schools, and nearly knocked out. They hadn't heard anymore since that incident, but they were waiting for something to happen.

"Hey Kris, what do you think the odds of Jeremy's buddies screwing with us this year are?" Micah asked after a time.

Kristoff simply shrugged. "I dunno man. It just depends on how stupid they want to be. If they mess with me or you, no problem. We can take it. But if they mess with one of the girls, especially Elsa, then they're dead meat. Neither of us will tolerate that shit anymore."

"Yeah, true. I just don't want to get expelled because of those assholes. But I do hope I run into Jeremy soon so I can remind him to leave Elsa alone. He seems to forget that a lot."

"Don't worry. We have all year. He'll get what's coming to him. That much I can promise."


	39. Chapter 39 - Lover's Quarrel

**Chapter 39**

 _Lover's Quarrel_

September 6th, 2016. It was early in the morning, nearly 6:45 am, and Anna had just gotten out of the shower when the doorbell rang. She had her hair wrapped up in a towel, having had no time to blow-dry it, and rushed awkwardly to the door. When she opened it, Kristoff was standing there with a smirk on his face as he looked her over. Then he rolled his eyes, shook his head, and helped himself inside. Without saying a word, she got on the tips of her toes and struggled to give him a peck on the lips before running back up the stairs to her room, urging him to follow.

"So, are you going to be ready in time to leave, or what?" Kristoff asked as he leaned in the doorway to her room.

"I'm almost ready. I just need to dry my hair and then we can take off," Anna said as she slipped her shoes on the wrong feet. When she noticed, she got visibly frustrated and kicked them off angrily.

"Whoa, relax Red. No need to get so upset. We still have time. Just take it easy."

"You don't understand, Kris. I slept in on accident, which is why I'm running late. Elsa and Micah are already up and dressed and everything. I'm nervous as hell about today, and my brain is scattered in every direction possible."

This made Kristoff chuckle a little. "Alright, well why don't you go do your hair and I'll get your school stuff together. Then you can worry about which foot goes in which shoe."

With a grunt of acknowledgment, Anna pouted and stormed out of the room back towards the bathroom so she could deal with her dripping wet, copper-red tresses. As she was busy doing that, Elsa walked by and glanced in before heading back to the bedroom to find Micah sitting at the desk with a bowl of cereal. He was busying himself on the laptop with something, but she didn't bother to look at what. Instead, she sat down on her bed and gave Ellie a little belly rub.

"You know we have to leave in a few minutes so we can get a parking spot, right?" she told him impatiently.

"Yeah, I know. I'm almost done. Just looking up something for one of my games," he said around a mouthful of Captain Crunch.

"Well, how about less reading and more chewing so we can get out of here. I've been waiting for about ten minutes already."

"School doesn't start for another hour. Relax."

"Micah, the parking lot always fills up before 7:15 am. If we don't hurry, we won't have a spot," Elsa said, annoyed.

"Like I said, I'm almost done. You need to chill. Seriously."

"Don't start this shit, please. Just hurry up so we can go."

It only took a few more minutes before he was finished and they were out the door, getting into the car and ready to leave. Anna had finally finished with her hair and was climbing into Kristoff's truck as everyone took off for school. They had originally considered riding together, but Kristoff and Anna had plans for after school. They didn't tell anybody what they were, and nobody bothered to ask.

On the way there, road construction had started back up. They were still working on parts of the main street that cut across town, and since the weather was still good enough for work crews to do their job, traffic was somewhat congested. It also didn't help that people were rushing to get to work, so things were a little slow. The worst part was when they got stuck behind a school bus that had to stop at nearly every block. There was an elementary school just down the road from the high school, so there were lots of kids in that area at that time of the morning.

"Why are you in such a bad mood this morning?" Micah asked as they sat at a red light.

"I'm not. I just don't want to be late getting a parking spot. Why were you being so inconsiderate?" Elsa countered.

"How was I being inconsiderate?"

"Micah, you weren't ready to leave when we needed to, you were busy reading bullshit online about a video game rather than getting ready to leave, and you basically told me off when I reminded you that we were going to be late."

"I did not tell you off."

"And now you're being incredibly argumentative. Why?"

"I am not!" Micah exclaimed loudly.

"Yes, you are! You're doing it right now!" Elsa yelled back.

"I'm not the only one in a bad mood apparently. You've been pissy all damn morning!"

"You really want to do this? Get into a fight on the first day of school?"

"I'm not the one starting shit!"

"Whatever. I'm done with this conversation."

When they pulled into the school parking lot, Elsa found a spot close to the doors and parked. Before she could try and smooth things over with Micah, he climbed out of the car and slammed the door shut before storming off. This frustrated her to no end, and she struggled with the decision to chase after him or let him cool off.

She chose the latter, and grabbed her bag before heading inside. Kristoff and Anna were close behind her, and when they got to the lunch room Micah was nowhere to be found. This only further agitated Elsa, but she didn't let it show. So instead, she chose a seat at their usual table and crossed her arms. When the others joined her, they gave her a questioning look.

"Where'd Micah go?" Anna asked as she scooted her chair in.

"I have no idea. I don't even know if I care right now," Elsa answered.

"Is everything alright? You sound angry."

"Yeah. Everything is fine," Elsa snapped.

"Okay, sorry. Jesus."

"Do you know if Rose is picking up Harley?" Kristoff asked, changing the subject.

"I have no idea," Elsa said. "Harley kind of lives a bit out of the way for her. In fact, I think she is technically in another school district. Her parents would have had to sign a waiver for her to come here, which means she has to find her own transportation. I assume her mother was bringing her before."

They sat in silence for another five minutes before Rose walked in with a joyful Harley right behind her. The girl had the biggest smile on her face, which wasn't really anything new for her. Rose looked tired though, more so than usual. When she sat down at the table, her head fell and smacked on the top with a loud thud.

"Are you okay, Rose?" Anna asked, sounding concerned.

"Not really," Rose mumbled.

"She was up all night worrying about today," Harley told them as she gave Rose a back rub.

"What were you worrying about, sweetie?" Anna asked her.

"Nothin'. Don't worry about it," Rose told her.

They all shot concerned looks at Harley, who had a sort of sympathetic look on her face and shrugged back at them. She kept rubbing Rose's back, who seemed to be enjoying it as she sighed contentedly. The others just watched, a little worried for Rose as this was not normal for her. She was usually the one doing the consoling, not the other way around.

They mostly just talked a little about what their schedules looked like. Elsa's first class of the day was AP physics, and Kristoff had his first honors class in programming. It would be the first year that he didn't share a class with Micah, which kind of worried Elsa some but not terribly. Anna had an English class first thing, which she wasn't thrilled with but could manage with little problem. Rose ended up having math and Harley had social studies. Micah was supposed to have the same math class as Rose, but nobody knew where he was or if he'd be there on time.

It bothered Elsa that he was acting that way. He was normally in a much better mood than that, and she had no clue what had gotten into him. They had slept alright, and had a wonderful night together. Or so she thought. It was just odd that he had become so grumpy and defensive for no reason.

"Where's Micah?" Rose asked, pulling Elsa out of her thoughts.

"Oh, I don't know. He took off without waiting for me. Maybe he had something to do," Elsa lied.

"They're fighting," Anna said, ignoring the threatening glare she got from her sister.

"What? What about?" Harley asked. "It's awfully early to be doing that."

"Look, it's nothing. I don't want to talk about it," Elsa said angrily. "I'm going to go. I want to find my class and get a good seat. I'll see you guys later."

Before anyone could say another word, Elsa got up and stormed out of the cafeteria. Everyone just watched her leave, not really sure what had gotten into her. The odd thing was they still had twenty minutes before class started.

"Well that was weird," Kristoff finally commented, having remained quiet the whole time.

"I wonder what they're fighting about. Did you notice anything strange, Red?" Rose asked.

"No, but I was kind of busy all morning, so I didn't have much time to keep tabs on them. They do their own thing, and I do mine," Anna told her. "Besides, they don't tell me that sort of stuff."

"Maybe we should just give them some space so they can cool down," Harley suggested. "I know when I'm angry I don't like having a lot of people in my business. I normally just stick to myself."

As soon as the class bell rang, the gang split up and headed off in different directions. Kristoff escorted Anna to her first class, telling her that the teacher she had was a decent one. This seemed to ease her nerves a little as she was still slightly anxious. The first day of school was always a big deal, and now that she was in high school it was an even bigger deal. The school was so much bigger than the middle school she attended. If it weren't for her boyfriend, she'd be completely lost.

"Alright, here we are," Kristoff said as they came to a stop outside one of the classrooms at the far end of the school. "Easy enough to find, right?"

"Yeah, I think I got it," Anna responded, not sounding too terribly sure of herself. "I'll see you after class?"

"Yep. I'll be here. I might be a minute or so late, but I'll be here. You'll like Mr. Steiner. He's an alright guy. He doesn't put up with bullshit though, but that shouldn't be a problem for you."

"Okay, I'll see you in a bit," Anna said with a wave as she headed inside. "Love you!"

There were already several people in the room, but no one was paying any attention to her. Choosing a seat up near the front of the class, Anna sat and started going through her backpack to make sure she actually had everything she'd need. She didn't expect much in the way of homework, but she still wanted to be prepared just in case. When she was finished with that, she looked around the room to busy herself. It was wholly unremarkable. There were a few literary posters on the walls, but for the most part everything was neat and orderly and boring. It only took a couple more minutes before the class filled up, the stragglers getting humored looks from the teacher.

Mr. Steiner was an older gentleman, and was rather large. He had no hair on his head to speak of, but did have a scraggly goatee. His brown sweater vest and white dress shirt hugged tight around his midsection. If Anna had to compare him to anything, it would be Humpty Dumpty. That thought made her giggle quietly to herself.

Eventually the last of the students found their way to their seats and the teacher sauntered over to the front of the room. He had a grin on his face, which Anna thought would indicate that he was in a good mood. The man carried himself well, she thought, and he just sort of looked over the room before speaking.

"Class starts at 7:45 am. Those of you that were late, I'd like to speak to you after class. You know who you are. I don't put up with this nonsense," the man said, now looking rather stern.

So much for him being in a good mood.

"For those of you that did show up on time, thank you for your patience. I'll see to it that this doesn't happen again, unless some of you want detention. That can certainly be arranged."

Clearing his throat, Mr. Steiner picked up a small black remote that was sitting on the table in front of him, and he aimed it at a projector that was in the ceiling. As soon as it clicked on, he turned the lights down and started reading over what apparently were the classroom rules and regulations. Why it had to be called that, nobody seemed to know. Most of the stuff was pretty basic, although he made sure to stress that talking was prohibited at all times, and would earn an immediate detention. Anna had no idea where Kristoff came off saying that this guy was alright. He seemed insanely strict.

The rest of class was incredibly quiet as he handed out a few things that were more or less a list of expectations and what they'd be going over that semester. It didn't look like anything she couldn't handle, but Anna wasn't sure how she felt about the poetry section. She had already done that in middle school. Her interest laid more in the creative writing unit that they had, but that was towards the end. This disappointed her slightly.

Kristoff ended up escorting her to practically every class she had, and when lunchtime came she was starving. She soon found herself standing in line to get her hands on some greasy substance that was supposed to pass for pizza. Luckily they had soda, so she grabbed a Coke before heading to the cash register. In no time at all, she was sitting at their table with Kristoff waiting for the others to show up.

"I hope Elsa and Micah have cooled off. They don't need to be fighting," Anna said around a bite of pepperoni pizza.

"Yeah, they'll be fine," Kristoff told her. "Nothing serious could have happened to cause them to fight, so they'll get over it."

"I certainly hope so."

They were soon joined by Harley and Rose, but there was no sign of the other two. When the girls sat down, they both looked confused.

"Where's the two lovebirds?" Rose asked.

"No idea," Kristoff replied. "Didn't you see Micah this morning?"

"Yeah, but he refused to talk to me. I asked him if everything was alright and he just completely ignored me. I have no idea why."

"Maybe they just need some time apart?" Harley suggested. "I mean, they spend all their time together. Maybe they're just getting burned out with one another."

"I suppose it's possible. I mean, they are almost never apart. Plus they're living together, go to school together... it's bound to happen I guess."

"Oh hey, here comes Micah," Anna said, nodding towards the boy.

Sure enough, he came walking in and slowly sat down at the table, but didn't acknowledge anyone at first. He still looked incredibly pissed.

"Hey loverboy," Rose said as she lightly jabbed him with her elbow. "What's with the grump face?"

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it," he mumbled.

"No, I'm worried about it because you wouldn't even look at me earlier. What gives?"

"I said it's nothing, Rose. Now drop it."

"Hey, Rose didn't do anything to deserve that. What the hell has gotten into you?" Kristoff asked.

"Fine, you want to know? Elsa has been a bitch all morning, and I can't figure out what the hell I did to piss her off. Last night, everything was fine, right until we actually went to bed. She just kind of had this nasty attitude towards me, and it bothered me all night. She won't tell me what the problem is, and she keeps telling me that I'm the one with the attitude problem. I have no idea what she's talking about, but it's getting on my nerves."

"When did you talk to her last?" Anna asked.

"About five minutes ago at her locker. I wanted to catch her and try to smooth things over with her, but it backfired in my face," Micah admitted sourly. "She told me I had been a real ass, and that she had no idea where it was coming from. She also said she didn't want to talk to me the rest of the day."

"Like I told these guys, I think you guys need a break from each other. Give each other some space or something," Harley said. "Maybe you should spend the night at your house and see your mom. It might help."

"But if I'm not there, she has those nightmares again. I can't do that to her, even if she's pissed at me for nothing."

"Micah, sweetie, by staying at the house with Elsa while you two are like this will only aggravate things further," Rose told him. "I really think you two need a night away from each other. Just both of you alone. No friends involved. I think it'll do you both some good."

"We'll see. Maybe she'll have cooled off by the end of the day."

Everyone fell quiet for a minute before the lunch bell rang telling them to head back to class. As they were heading back out into the halls, Kristoff caught sight of Elsa walking off towards the gymnasium with some guy he didn't recognize. At first he didn't think anything of it, but then he worried about what Micah would think if he saw them walking together. He was already the jealous type. Seeing them together would only send up red flags, even if there was nothing going on. So, before that could happen, he grabbed hold of Micah and walked him the opposite direction with his arm slung across his shoulders.

"You know what you should do," Kristoff began, "is take her somewhere for the weekend. Just the two of you. Away from us, away from Auburn in fact. I don't care what city you guys go to, but get a hotel room and just spend the weekend together with zero interruptions. Take her shopping, go out to eat somewhere that isn't a burger joint or pizzeria, and just sight see for a bit. Seattle would be the perfect place for this. I know you two haven't spent much time there, and there's more to it than just the waterfront. Maybe take her to see some local bands that are playing. Something. But make it a weekend thing and spoil the hell out of her. I'll even pitch in and help you with the money. The others will too, I promise. But I honestly think that this would do wonders for you guys. Just because you have only officially been a couple for about two and a half months doesn't mean squat. You guys have been together unofficially since kindergarten. Doing this will prove to her just how much she means to you. She does mean that much to you, right?"

"Of course she does," Micah assured him.

"Then do this. I'll help you plan out the whole thing. Hell, so will Rose, since this is sort of her specialty. You have all week to look into it. Now, it's up to you whether or not it's a surprise or if it's a joint effort between you two. But I promise you that either way, Elsa will love it. You know that she would."

"Yeah, I know. I don't know why I can't ever think of this stuff on my own. Maybe I'm not as good of a boyfriend as I should be."

"Hey man, you can't start thinking like that. This sort of stuff just comes natural to some people. Others need a helping hand. It's no big deal. You just happen to have friends that know how to do this stuff to help you out with it. There's nothing to be ashamed of here. Hell, I think going home tonight, putting on some soft music, and just telling her how sorry you are for how you've been acting will work. Then you just hold her and slow dance to the music."

"First of all, I'm not the one acting like anything. It's her. Second, I don't have any idea how to dance."

"Bro, it doesn't matter who's at fault here," Kristoff told him. "Take the fall for this one. It's not worth fighting over nothing. As for dancing, who cares? All you gotta do is hold her close and rock back and forth. Maybe move your feet a little. That's all there is to it. If you make a fool of yourself, so be it. It's just Elsa. She won't care. She'll just think that the whole notion is romantic as hell. You know this."

"Alright, I guess you're right. I'll text you this afternoon if I don't see you back at the house. Maybe you can help me figure this out more," Micah said as he readjusted his backpack and turned down one of the many hallways.

"Sure thing. Now get to class."

00000

When the final bell rang to end the day, Micah made his way out to the car to wait for Elsa, knowing she'd probably take a few minutes since she'd stop by her locker first. He bumped into Anna on the way out, and they walked together while she vented about how stressful the day had been. This made him laugh and remember his first day of high school. Then he told her how lost he had been the whole day, and was late to pretty much every class he had. She was lucky, he said, because she had Kristoff to show her around.

Once at the car, Micah set his bag down on the hood and leaned against the door while waiting. The sky was overcast, which wasn't too terribly surprising but at the same time seemed a little early for the rain to be coming. There was no wind strangely, and it was still fairly warm out. Probably in the high sixties. It was, all things considered, still decent weather.

After about five minutes of waiting, Elsa finally came walking out with some guy at her side. They were talking and laughing, and Micah wasn't sure what to think of it. They finally waved to one another before Elsa crossed the parking lot. She barely looked at Micah before using the remote to unlock the car. When she opened the door to get in, she tossed her bag into the back seat, climbed in, and just sat while waiting for him.

Once he was in, Elsa turned to him and her expression was completely different from what it was earlier that day. "I, um, just want to apologize for earlier. I'm really sorry for losing my temper with you. I let things get to me, and I shouldn't have. I just don't understand what happened this morning."

Micah leaned back into his seat and crossed his arms, and wasn't too sure he was ready to forgive her just yet. "Els, I don't know what got into you, but it wasn't cool. You have been in a bad mood since last night, and I haven't been able to figure out what I did wrong. Then you snapped at me this morning for no apparent reason. I tried smoothing things over with you at lunch, but you told me to piss off and not speak to you the rest of the day. I'm honestly not sure I want to accept your apology right now."

This only hurt Elsa, and he could see it in her eyes. "Micah, I am so sorry. I don't know why I was in a bad mood. I honestly thought everything was fine last night, and then this morning you said something that really upset me and it shouldn't have. Do you remember what it was?"

"How could I possibly know?"

"You made a comment about my hair. Said it was a complete mess. My hair, Micah! I don't get upset about stupid shit like that. I have no idea why it upset me. Please, sweetheart, forgive me."

"I don't know. We'll see."

This wasn't the answer Elsa was looking for, and it bummed her out a lot. Slowly, she started the car and backed up. When they were on the road headed home, she kept sneaking glances over at Micah to see that he was still very much angry. He was staring out of the side window, and his arms were still folded. There was an urge to break the silence and try to get him to talk, but he had made it clear that he wasn't in the mood. So, it ended up being a long car ride home.

When they finally got back, Micah climbed out, grabbed his bag, and started walking down the sidewalk towards the main road. Elsa looked after him horribly confused. He had never done this before.

"Micah! Where are you going!?" Elsa called after him.

"I'm going home. I want to see my mom, and I think we need some time apart," Micah told her.

Forgetting her own bag and the car door, she chased after him and then grabbed his arm, her eyes pleading with him. "Baby, please don't do this! I'm so sorry! I don't want you to leave! We can talk this out!"

"Elsa, you don't get it. You flipped out for no reason. None. The way you acted at lunch today really hurt. I tried to make peace with you and you threw it back in my face. I talked to the others, and they think we need some space from each other. I'm going home for the night. I'll be back in time to go to school tomorrow _if_ I don't drive myself instead. Something has gotten into you, and I'm not looking to experience it any further. This isn't the first time we've had issues in the last couple weeks. So, you might want to reconsider how things have been before too much damage has been done."

Before she could say another word, he yanked his arm free and stormed off. Left there to just look after him as he walked away, Elsa was rather dumbstruck by his comments. When she trudged her way back up to the house, she locked up the car and headed inside only to be assaulted by a very happy Ellie. It cheered her up some, but she still would have preferred having Micah there so they could make up and move on. She already felt incredibly guilty with how she had been.

When she got to her room, she tossed her bag into the corner before just plopping down on the bed. Elsa felt defeated. It was lonely and too quiet without him there. She had grown so used to having him there that she had forgotten what it was like to be alone. It brought back horrid memories, memories that she had managed to suppress while he was there. Without him, they came rushing back. This made Elsa decide to change into her pajamas and crawl into bed to sulk. The biggest fear she had at that point was the nightmares would come back in full force. She wasn't going to be getting any sleep that night.

Roughly two hours after she crawled under the covers her phone buzzed. At first she ignored it, figuring it was one of her friends just checking on her. But it buzzed again, and the noise was enough to stir her from her warm blanket. As soon as she looked at it, she was confused. She wasn't expecting to see Micah text her.

 _I want you to know I still love you. Just because we're fighting doesn't mean I stopped._

This made her smile a little, although it made her a little sad at the same time. He still loved her, which she was thankful for, but it still hurt to know that he thought they were still fighting. But, before she could think about it further, she got another message from him.

 _I have a surprise for you. Get on Skype when you can._

For some reason, this made her smile and get slightly excited. Micah was still talking to her. This was great. It's exactly what she wanted but feared wouldn't happen. So she happily launched herself out of bed and bolted over to her laptop. The moment it was booted up, she had Skype open and was waiting impatiently for Micah to message her.

Unfortunately, she ended up just sitting there waiting. And waiting. And waiting. Nearly fifteen minutes passed and nobody had bothered messaging her. Elsa didn't want to seem needy or anything, so she didn't want to message him first. Eventually she got sick of waiting, though, and forged ahead with the message.

 _Frosty Soul: Hey sweetheart, I got your text. You said to get on Skype?_

 _Raging Rajang: Oh hey. Yeah. I had a couple questions for you._

 _Frosty Soul: Okay. Ask away._

 _Raging Rajang: How do you feel about Seattle?_

 _Frosty Soul: How do I feel about it? It's okay. It has some interesting stuff, especially Pike's Place. Why?_

 _Raging Rajang: If you had a chance to stay in the city for a couple days, would you?_

 _Frosty Soul: I don't know. Probably._

 _Raging Rajang: Okay, good._

 _Frosty Soul: Micah, I don't understand what this has to do with anything._

 _Raging Rajang: I know. You'll understand shortly here. One more question._

 _Frosty Soul: Um, okay._

 _Raging Rajang: Have you ever been to the Seattle Aquarium or Pacific Science Center?_

 _Frosty Soul: I haven't been to the aquarium in a long time, and I've never been to the science center. Always wanted to though._

 _Raging Rajang: Great. Thanks. This makes it a lot easier._

 _Frosty Soul: Do you feel like telling me what you're talking about now?_

 _Raging Rajang: I'm booking a hotel room in Seattle for this weekend._

 _Frosty Soul: What!? Why?_

 _Raging Rajang: For us, that's why._

 _Frosty Soul: Okay, Micah, I am really confused now. What is going on?_

 _Raging Rajang: I was thinking earlier that the one thing we haven't done is have a weekend to ourselves. At all. We always have your sister or our friends or someone hanging around us or something. We haven't had a single weekend to just be us. I want to take you away for the weekend, even if it's just to Seattle. I just booked us a room, and it's near a good shopping district. We're gonna go shopping, see the aquarium and science center, possibly go to the zoo. Just goofy couple stuff. We're just gonna spend the weekend alone doing whatever we want to do._

Elsa was rather shocked by this, and incredibly elated. To know her boyfriend actually thought about all this was a wonderful feeling. But there was only one issue with the plan.

 _Frosty Soul: Micah, this is amazing. I don't know what to say. But how are we going to pay for all of that?_

 _Raging Rajang: Oh, don't worry about that. Everyone is pitching in money to help us do this. Harley especially. She's all for this._

 _Frosty Soul: Remind me to kiss every single one of them when I see them next._

 _Raging Rajang: So does that mean you're okay with this?_

 _Frosty Soul: Yes. I think this is a wonderful idea. You have no idea how happy I am right now. I'm so excited! But, I thought you were angry at me still._

 _Raging Rajang: Eh, not nearly as much as I made it seem. I just had to find an excuse to come home so I could take care of all this without you knowing. I know it was kind of a shitty thing to do, but I had to make sure it was a surprise._

 _Frosty Soul: Well, I am very much surprised! I have never looked forward to the weekend more!_

 _Raging Rajang: Then it seems I have done my job._

 _Frosty Soul: Yes you have. Now please, come home and cuddle with me._

 _Raging Rajang: Sorry Els, but I'm spending the evening with my mom. She needs it right now. But I will be there first thing in the morning so we can head to school. I'll even be sure to be on time._

 _Frosty Soul: Okay. I can't blame you for wanting to see your mom. But just know I'm going to miss you a lot._

 _Raging Rajang: I know. I'm gonna miss you too. But it's important I spend the night with her. She's been pretty lonely lately. I'm gonna take her out to dinner in a bit. She needs it._

 _Frosty Soul: That sounds good. Be sure to tell her that I send my love. And sweetheart? Please know that I am so incredibly sorry for what happened. I want to make it up to you however I can._

 _Raging Rajang: Don't worry about it. People get cranky. I'm not upset about it anymore, and you already apologized earlier. Now go tell your mother you love her. She can probably use it. I know mine can._

 _Frosty Soul: I will do just that. I love you. Have a good night._

 _Raging Rajang: Love you too. Just remember that I'm only a phone call away._


	40. Chapter 40 - The Promise

**A/N: So, here's the deal. As of next Thursday, I'll finally have the keys to my new condo. Yay! Okay, enough celebrating. There is an issue that needs to be addressed. I won't have internet for a little bit when I move. Guess what that means?**

 **You guessed it. No Colors of Autumn next week. I could do Wednesday, but I'm afraid that in the middle of the week is a bad time for the upload. I prefer uploading on the weekends. It's just my preference, it doesn't have to make any sort of sense.**

 **So this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to upload 2 chapters this weekend to make up for the lack of a chapter next weekend. I think it's only fair. Plus it's kind of a nice way to celebrate me finally getting the hell out of here and into my new place.**

 **I know nobody cares, but going through divorce sucks. It just does. The reason it sucks is because you have to deal with the other person as they treat you like shit while acting like they aren't. You know, passive-aggressive assholes. Well, that's basically my wife. Or soon to be ex-wife. Whatever. The point is she doesn't treat me very well, and I've been doing my absolute best to keep my mouth shut and not ruin things. Why? Because I'm going to be filing for custody of my 13 year old daughter, and the wife has no idea. She doesn't even know I've been talking to an attorney. I'm not going to go into details, but suffice to say that she is putting my daughter in a very bad situation, and only wants custody for the child support. So, that's where I'm putting my foot down and putting an end to those plans.**

 **Alright, enough about my personal life. It's time to get this chapter uploaded to you guys so you can all go "Aw" at how cheesy and fluffy the chapter will be. I do promise, the story is going to start picking back up very soon. I just had a lot of character building to do, plus getting Harley properly introduced. By the way, her inclusion was actually my friend's idea. So was Rose being bi and having a girlfriend. So my buddy Jacob is the one that you should all thank. Especially those of you that are big Rose fans, and hopefully also Harley fans.**

 **After this chapter there will be a lot more of the other characters. Like I promised, I'm going to be including them more and more. Eventually Elsa and Micah are going to take the back seat for a bit so we can see what Anna, Kristoff, Rose, and Harley are all up to. They'll still be there, just they won't be the primary focus ALL of the time.**

 **Also, I want to thank my buddies and most avid fans/readers VenomousFantum and Waguneru for their ideas and brainstorming for parts of the story, especially in the coming chapters. They helped far more than I ever imagined. Oh, and for the beach camp out and bake sale pieces. Those ideas initially started off as a joke between me and a friend on Skype. As a way to humor my friend, I went ahead and threw them into the story. Whether or not it paid off is questionable. Maybe someone actually liked those chapters. I dunno. I never actually asked.**

 **I think that's it for now. If I think of any other pieces of trivia that you guys might like to know, I'll include it in the next update. I'll probably upload the next chapter tomorrow. Yeah, that sounds pretty good. Alright, on to the cheese!**

 **Chapter 40**

 _The Promise_

"Are you ready?" Micah asked her, his voice unsteady.

"Not really, no," Elsa answered just as nervously.

How they had found themselves sitting in the parking lot to such a place was something that had to be contemplated. They certainly had never thought that they would ever visit one, especially together. The conversation that preceded this decision was rather embarrassing for both of them, and neither was able to tell just how they came to the conclusion that they had.

It started off with a simple question. Micah asked his wonderful girlfriend if there was anything they needed to pick up before going on their weekend getaway. At first, Elsa wasn't sure. When she told him as much, they both sat down and thought for nearly an hour about what they could possibly be missing. That's when he made a very lewd joke about something that she could potentially enjoy, for which earned him a bruised arm. He was lucky she didn't slap him like she had at Rose's party, because she was very tempted.

Oddly enough, his ill-humored joke led to a serious discussion of the subject. Again, both were too embarrassed to really come out and say what they wanted to say, so they practically danced around the topic more than they did actually talk about it. Eventually, Elsa had to be the one to reign in the conversation and force them to approach the whole thing like the adults that they wanted to be. After that, it was a simple decision to make. The only issue was their inhibitions and the awkwardness of the situation.

Thus, they came to find themselves outside Sinners & Saints, a well-known adult sex shop on the other end of town. They were still sitting in Micah's car, incredibly nervous and slightly paranoid. Neither was eighteen, and they were worried about getting carded going in. But they figured if they acted mature enough, nobody would question them. Besides, Elsa had been able to do it just a couple months ago, so she at least had some experience. At least, that's how Micah reasoned it.

"Well, if we're going to do this, we might as well do it," Micah said.

"Are you sure this is necessary?" Elsa questioned him. "I mean, I'm perfectly happy with how things are now."

"Technically, no, we don't have to. But I thought it might be fun if we explored a little. Try new things. I mean, we don't have to get anything if you don't want to or feel totally uncomfortable with the idea. But whats the harm in looking?"

"Besides us getting into trouble for being underage? Nothing, I guess."

"Alright then. Let's do this."

Slowly and nervously they climbed out of the car and made their way in. As soon as the door was open and they were inside, they could hear some form of electronic music being played over the speaker system. But that was easy to ignore. The myriad toys and devices that assaulted their eyes, however, was a different story.

The walls were lined with all sorts of things that neither of them had ever seen or had any real idea what to do with. There were paddles and little red balls attached to leather belt straps. There were lengths of silk rope, handcuffs, and strangely enough, a swing. Neither Elsa or Micah could figure out how that would work. That is, until they checked the box and saw the diagrams on the back. The price was also outrageous, and they had no idea how they would even be able to assemble the thing for use without raising suspicions at all. Not that they weren't intrigued by the possibilities.

There was far more than just that available. There was an entire wall dedicated to toys intended for female pleasure. They all represented a man's, well, manhood, although some were more artistic than others. One had what looked like a dolphin on part of it. Elsa wasn't sure how to feel about that. She also wasn't sure how to feel about the ones that claimed to be nine inches or more. That didn't sound too terribly comfortable.

While they were wandering around and trying not to blush too much or act stupid and giddy, the store clerk was watching them and shaking her head. After about ten minutes of watching them act nervous and timid, she decided to approach them and find out what they were looking for.

"Are you guys looking for something in particular?" the clerk asked.

"Oh, um, we don't know yet," Micah replied. "We've never been here before, so we're just kind of looking at all this stuff and seeing what there is."

"I see. Do you have any experience with sex toys?"

"No, not exactly," Elsa said, refusing to look at the woman.

"Well, what do you want to know? I can help answer your questions if you have any."

"Um, well, is there anything you'd recommend to us since it's our first time?" Micah asked nervously.

"That honestly depends on you guys," the clerk said. "Are you looking for a toy for her, a toy for you, one you can share? Are you guys into BDSM? Role-playing? Do you have fetishes? Knowing this stuff will help me determine where to go from here."

"Oh, we didn't really think to talk about that stuff. This isn't something that comes up very often. We were just looking to explore a little and try something new."

"If that's the case, then you might consider discussing it further before making a purchase. I'd hate to sell you guys something that doesn't do anything for you."

As they were talking, Elsa's eyes began to wander. There were a lot of possibilities, and she seriously had never considered any of the things she was seeing as being something she'd try. Not that she was against such things. Her thoughts on pleasure and sex in general had changed drastically since she and Micah had become a couple. Love making was taken to a whole new level when she had her first experience with him. The problem was, she had no idea what to look for that could possibly enhance their love life. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw something that piqued her interest.

On the far wall she saw something that looked very similar to a dog collar and leash. Without bothering her boyfriend or the clerk, she quietly wandered over to it and grabbed it off of the rack. Looking it over, she wondered why anyone would want to wear something like that. But then she imagined herself wearing it, and began to blush. The thoughts she had were definitely not the kind she had ever shared with anyone before, and were more akin to something Rose would suggest. In fact, Elsa wasn't too sure Rose _hadn't_ suggested something very similar before. She was, after all, the pervert of the group. Although Anna was slowly turning into one herself. Elsa figured it was all that time she had spent around their artist friend.

Then her eyes started to look in every direction at once, looking from the handcuffs to the leather straps to the silk rope, she was heavily intrigued by what she saw. When her eyes landed on the paddles, she suddenly had the urge to be spanked. Then she wondered why the hell she had such a random thought pop into her head. Needless to say, the blushing hadn't stopped yet.

"Ah, bondage. That's a fun kink," the store clerk said from behind, startling Elsa out of her perverted thoughts.

"I, um, don't know anything about it really," Elsa said sheepishly.

"Well, what would you like to know?"

"Oh, I'm not sure. I mean, I've never thought about this stuff before. I'm fairly uneducated on this sort of thing."

"You two must be really young. Are you even eighteen?" the clerk asked.

"Um, well, I mean..."

"Uh-huh. How old are you?"

"... Seventeen."

The lady crossed her arms and hummed to herself, but didn't look remotely surprised by this. "You do realize that I should be kicking you two out right now, right?"

"Yes..." Elsa said.

"The only reason I'm not is because I was exactly the same at your age. I was curious and experimented with a lot of stuff. So, I will look the other way this time. I shouldn't, but I will."

Elsa glanced back across the store to see that Micah was off looking at something that she couldn't readily see clearly. "Oh. Well, um, thank you. We wanted to try something new. We just had no idea what."

"Well, bondage play is definitely fun. I saw you looking at the collar and leash. You must be the submissive type."

"I guess so? I mean, I don't like to be the one in charge really."

"That's the thing about BDSM," the lady said. "The submissive and slave is always the one that determines just how far the play can go. That's the beauty of it. Just remember to always have a safety word that isn't something you'd say in a normal conversation or during play. That's a very important rule to remember."

"That makes sense."

"So, what kind of stuff are you interested in? There's spanking, which is a personal favorite. Then there are the hand and anklecuffs, and restraints that you attach to the bedposts. Then you have riding crops and floggers which are for more serious players. Then there are leather outfits, straight jackets, all sorts of stuff. Any of that sound fun?"

Giving the toys on the wall another glance, Elsa's eyes kept falling on the ones that were all about pain. The paddles, floggers, and crops were what she was really thinking about, and imagined what it would be like to be spanked and whipped.

The clerk noticed this instantly. "Ah. You are into that sort of thing, huh? Interesting. It's always the shy and quiet types that surprise you. Any particular one that speaks to you the most?"

"Well, I mean, um, I'm not sure..."

"Of course you are. You're just embarrassed. It's adorable. But you have no reason to be that way here. We aren't in the business to judge. Just look at the stuff we sell. We cater to everyone's kink and fantasy."

"If you're sure... I, well, um, kind of like the idea of getting handcuffed and spanked..." Elsa's face was now bright red like a fire truck.

"That is awesome! So why don't we get you that then. It's a great place to start. So go ahead and grab the things you want and we can get you two out of here."

As Elsa was busy nervously grabbing the things she really wanted off of the shelves, Micah sneaked up behind her and scared the hell out of her by tickling her ribs, causing her to drop everything she was carrying. As soon as she turned around, she punched him in the arm as hard as she could, earning her a bark of laughter and several curious looks from other customers.

"You jerk! You are embarrassing the hell out of me!" Elsa hissed.

"Sorry! I couldn't help it!" Micah laughed as he tried to defend himself from another swing. "Anyway, what's all this stuff?"

"Oh, um, it's just some stuff that interested me..."

"I see. I didn't think you'd be into this sort of stuff. I thought we'd just get you one of the toys off of those racks over there. You know, normal stuff."

"Why? You're all I need. I don't need _those._ "

"I guess so. But what about this stuff? Handcuffs? A dog collar and leash? Is that a paddle? I have no idea what these things are..."

"Well, it's, um, what I want to try," Elsa said sheepishly.

"As long as you're sure. I don't know anything about this, so you'll have to tell me what you want."

Nodding, Elsa had to bend over to pick everything back up, doing her best to ignore the groping and touching Micah was administering to her bottom. Then she marched over to the checkout counter and looked as serious as she possibly could. Micah was grinning from ear to ear and doing his best to make sure she was utterly embarrassed.

"Alright, is that everything for you two?" the clerk asked.

"Yeah, should be. Oh, what's that?" Micah asked, pointing at a bottle of pills inside the glass case beneath the cash register.

"Oh those? They're supplements that are supposed to enhance performance and stamina. Feel like trying them?"

"No. No he doesn't. He, um, doesn't need the help. At all," Elsa said as rigidly as possible. It was obvious she just wanted to get the hell out of there.

"Okay. Well, here you guys go. Have fun," the lady said with a wink.

The moment the bags were in her hand, she was dragging Micah out of the store and earning another round of laughter from both him and the clerk. Once out at the car, she tossed the bag in the trunk and climbed in. As soon as Micah was in and starting up the car, Elsa turned to him and looked very angry.

"What the hell, Micah!" she yelled.

"Whoa! What did I do?" Micah asked defensively.

"You are such a jerk! You embarrassed the hell out of me in there!"

"To be fair, you did a pretty good job of that yourself."

"What? How?"

"You were nervous and awkward the whole time. The lady in there found it funny as hell, and so did I. It was kind of cute. But I don't understand why you were."

"I...don't know. It's just not something I'm comfortable talking about. I don't know why," Elsa admitted.

"Do you think it's because of all the stuff you've gone through?" Micah wondered.

Elsa simply shrugged. "I guess it's possible. I don't really know. I just know it's weird for me. Hell, I still have a hard time talking about it with you, and we've made love plenty of times in the past few months."

"Well, whatever. I hope you get over this someday, because it would be a lot more fun to be able to talk about this stuff with you without you getting so scared of it."

"I know. Now then, let's get this stuff home so we can hide it from everyone. And not a word about this to Rose or I will never have sex with you ever again," Elsa threatened.

"Hey, that's hardly fair. Besides, we both know that you'll end up telling her yourself probably tonight. You tell her everything. She is literally your best friend."

"Except I'm not dating or sleeping with her. Besides, _you_ are my best friend. She's just my best female friend."

"Whatever. The point is, she's going to know before the day is over," Micah stated.

"Whatever. Let's just get out of here," Elsa begged. "Then tonight, we can have some fun. Also, our safe word is Snuffleupagus."

00000

By the time Friday rolled around, Elsa was practically dying of anticipation for the weekend. She had been waiting all week for this getaway that Micah had planned, and had thanked her friends countless times for chipping in on the whole thing. Harley especially helped them more than anyone should have, but Elsa was incredibly thankful to her. All Harley demanded was that they have fun; no fighting allowed.

They only had to pack a single duffel bag with their things, and they had to make sure that their new toys were hidden from view in case certain redheads got nosy. Not that that was likely to happen, but both of them were paranoid with the stuff in their bag, so extra precautions were taken. They had even gone so far as to get a small lock for the zippers on the bag itself, just to keep people from prying.

The drive to the hotel was much longer than it needed to be thanks to rush hour traffic. I-5 was a dead stop for a good portion of it, and it caused Elsa to start pouting. It was barely 3:30 pm and they were stuck in bumper-to-bumper congestion. At least they were only a couple miles from their exit.

"What hotel are we staying at anyway? You haven't told me," Elsa asked as she stared out the window in frustration.

"Oh. The Paramount Hotel," Micah told her. "It's pretty classy from what I read. Harley recommended it. She's the one that paid for the room too."

"I might have to kiss her next time I see her."

"I don't think Rose would appreciate that."

"That's not what I meant and you know it."

"Yeah, sure," Micah teased.

Rolling her eyes at him, Elsa turned on the radio for some music, but all that was on was talk shows and pop music that she didn't care for. They still hadn't moved more than twenty feet in the last five minutes, and they still had quite a way to go before getting to their off-ramp. It was frustrating to be sure. She was dying to get there and start enjoying their time in the city.

The first thing she wanted to do was go to the shopping center nearby and look around. Micah did say that they were going to go shopping, and they had the money for it thanks to their friends, so she felt that it was only the proper thing to do. There was supposed to be a pretty fancy electronics department store there, and she admitted to herself that she could use some new clothes. Harley had done a pretty good job making an impression on her. So now, she wanted to do what she could to impress Micah. He had fallen in love with the miniskirt, and it made things a bit more interesting when she wore it. That's when she decided she'd have to wear it more often.

After nearly an hour of moving at a snail's pace, they made it to the off-ramp and got into town. Seattle was well-known for it's confusing layout and one-way streets, and it took them a bit longer than they had anticipated to find the most direct route to the hotel. Even then, they were forced to park in a parking garage across the street, and it wasn't cheap.

Once they entered the lobby of the hotel, after dodging a few cars that didn't bother fully stopping for the stop sign so they could cross the street safely, they were rather overwhelmed by the scale and how grandiose it was. The ceiling was domed, and the highest point was nearly fifty feet high. The walls were a sterile white that almost seemed to glow, and the trimming around the edges was shiny and silvery. All along each wall hanged paintings of different cityscapes, and some of the surrounding mountains and water. Off to one side of the front desk was a rack containing all sorts of pamphlets for tourists, all including information on the many attractions and sights of Seattle. The floor itself was a dark blue marbled tile, which was a strange contrast to the abundance of white the lobby consisted of.

It was a lot to take in, especially for someone who had never been to a hotel before. Elsa was still staring and taking in everything while Micah checked them in, and he grabbed her hand as he led her to the elevator. If the lobby was this extravagant, she couldn't wait to see what the room looked like.

Once they were on the elevator and Micah had pushed the button for the seventh floor, Elsa began to get more and more excited as the reality of the whole trip started to really kick in. When the quiet ding of the elevator told her they had arrived, she found herself rushing out the doors the moment they were open.

"What's our room number?" she asked impatiently.

"15G. It should be at the end of the hall, I think," Micah told her with a grin.

As soon as they had the room door open, Elsa was already inside looking through everything. The main part of the room was rather spacious, and had the same white walls as they had downstairs. There were a couple atmospheric paintings on the walls of flowers and people, and right above the bed were a couple of electric sconces that were attached to a dimmer switch. The bed itself was a large king-sized mattress, and when she sat down to test it out Elsa sank several inches. Against the other wall was an entertainment center with a large flat screen TV. That was something she knew wasn't going to be getting used much.

When she wandered into the bathroom, she stopped in the doorway and her jaw dropped. Instead of a regular bathtub they had a large Jacuzzi hot tub that was easily large enough for the both of them. There was also a large stand-in shower in case they didn't feel like a bath, which was also rather large. The floor was that dark blue marble that they had seen down in the lobby, and it seemed a little out of place here but was quickly forgotten.

"Micah, this is amazing," Elsa said from the bathroom doorway. "We're staying here all weekend?"

"Yep. Pretty cool huh?" Micah said with a toothy grin. Her excitement was amusing him.

Before he could prepare himself, Elsa pounced on him and knocked him backwards onto the bed. She was already peppering his face with light kisses, and he wasn't entirely sure he wanted her to stop. Then she placed a very powerful kiss to his lips as he was about to speak, silencing him momentarily.

"This is the greatest gift anyone has ever given me," she said breathlessly. "We just got here and I'm already loving it. We definitely needed this."

"Well, I don't know if we 'needed' this," he replied as he forced her off so he could sit up, "but it's definitely something I wanted to do with you. But we can't stay here long. We have shopping we have to go do. Then tomorrow we're going to the aquarium, possibly the science center since you said you've never been there, and if we still have time we'll go walk around down at the waterfront for a bit. We can do that Sunday instead if you want. The point is, I plan on spoiling you and taking you to do all those things that we haven't had the chance to do together. I just want you to actually feel special."

Elsa did her best to suppress a giggle, but failed miserably. "You already make me feel special. But this is definitely helping, and later tonight I'll show you just how much I appreciate it."

"Will you now?" Micah asked with a wicked grin.

"You'll just have to wait and see."

Shortly after another round of Elsa assaulting Micah's face with more kisses, they made their way back downstairs to the lobby and then out to the street. They were in the middle of a large shopping district, so there were all sorts of stores for them to check out. Elsa didn't really care where they went, she was just looking forward to spending time alone with the man she loved. If that involved spending crazy amounts of money on things she didn't really need, then so be it.

As they made their way across the surprisingly empty street to a Fry's Electronics so they could check out the video game and movie sections, there was a sense of bubbling excitement in her belly for no apparent reason. Elsa wanted to get an external hard drive since the one inside her laptop was close to full with games and photos. That was something she had started doing since she and Micah had gotten together. She never thought of herself as the type to take selfies, but she started to in order to have pictures of her and her friends since she didn't have any. Most of her pictures weren't selfies, but the ones she did have were usually during important events, such as at Rose's and Anna's birthdays. She was, after all, a teenage girl. Even she couldn't avoid the silliness of such things for too long.

They wandered around for a bit before heading to the checkout line. There was lots to see, but none of it was really something they thought they needed. Micah had mentioned that he wanted to get a new mouse for his laptop, and nearly did until he reasoned that the mouse he did have was perfectly fine. He didn't need the fancy one with eleven programmable macro buttons on it, as nice it would have been to have.

"How come we never considered building our own computers?" he asked as they waited in line.

"Because neither of us knows how, and our laptops are more convenient," Elsa told him.

"But we could learn easily. There's how-to videos on YouTube, and we can make some sexy looking machines."

"Well, if that's what you want to do then go ahead. I'm content with my laptop. Besides, I don't really have the space for a desktop."

It wasn't long before they were back out on the street and trying to decide where to head next. There was a department store not that far from there, and Micah convinced the blonde beauty that she could use some more outfits. Elsa then reminded him that she didn't do outfits, but she would at least look to see what they had. It was her promise to both him and Harley that she would try.

They actually spent close to two hours wandering around the multi-tiered building looking at everything from clothes to dishwashers to flat screen TVs. They even went and looked at the baby department, such as cribs and strollers. Elsa didn't want to say anything, but she was secretly hoping that Micah was thinking what she was thinking as well. Being only seventeen didn't matter to her. To have his children was a fantasy she had had plenty of times. Imagining a family and a home with him was something that she dreamed about and hoped for. Now it actually had a chance of becoming a reality. After they had finished their circuit around the department store, they made their way back outside and just sort of stood there, with no idea where to head to next.

"So what now?" Elsa asked, looking around for some sort of sign to tell her the answer.

"Well, it's almost 6 pm. We can head somewhere to eat, or we can just order room service," Micah suggested.

"Well, I don't have any really nice clothes to wear to dinner. I outgrew that blue dress I really liked."

"We don't have to go anywhere fancy. For all I care we can go to Burger King and eat there."

"We are not going to Burger King. We're in Seattle. There are hundreds of restaurants to choose from. I saw a little Italian place a couple blocks away from here on our way to the hotel. I think that would be nice to try out."

Micah smiled slightly at her suggestion. He was glad he didn't have to think of something. "Okay, sure. Why don't we head back to the room and put this stuff away, then we'll head to dinner."

While on their way back to the room, Elsa was thinking of all the possible things they'd end up doing that weekend. Micah had said that there was all sorts of stuff he was going to take her to do. The one she was looking forward to the most was the aquarium. She hadn't been there since she was little, and she never got to go with Micah. This was going to be a wonderful experience. She could hardly wait.

00000

"Holy shit this is awesome," Micah said in awe.

Right before them was a 120,000 gallon tank full to the brim with ocean critters from the Pacific Northwest. According to the placard next to the massive window view, the rocky outcroppings and coral were all designed to mimic the waters off the shore of Neah Bay. It was incredibly impressive. He wasn't sure which he liked more, the rockfish, the school of tiny salmon, or the wolf eels slithering along the bottom. They had just missed the interactive dive that the aquarium put on, but another one would start in roughly an hour, which Elsa definitely wanted to check out.

As they made their way further in, Elsa was getting visibly excited. If it wasn't for the fact that he had a tight grip on her hand just to prevent it, she would have grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him as fast as she could from exhibit to exhibit. Luckily, the next one was a hands-on display. The touch pools were something that she had been waiting to check out. Getting to play with the starfish and sea anemone was the coolest thing she could possibly think of doing. The hermit crabs were an added bonus.

"Micah, this is so cool," Elsa said as she pet a sea cucumber. It was both bumpy and slimy at the same time.

"Yeah, it really is," he agreed. "I think it was a great decision to come here."

After another five minutes of playing around in the tide pools, Elsa finally did grab him by the wrist and led him further into the aquarium. The passages were dimly lit, allowing for viewers to see more clearly into the other exhibits. The next one up was the moon jellies. They were mostly translucent in opacity, but glowed differently under the right light. These were more of a pearly white color under the fluorescent light, and they just undulated and dipped up and down in the water. It was rather hypnotic to watch.

Eventually they came to the undersea dome. It was massive, surrounded by a 400,000 gallon tank. It had more of the Pacific Northwest fish swimming around it, from sturgeon to lingcods to skates. Elsa chose to take a seat down near the bottom on one of the benches, and Micah obediently followed. The light reflecting through the murky water was dimmed slightly, and danced around as the surface shifted in the breeze.

"This weekend has been one of the best weekends in my life," Elsa told him, taking his hand in hers. "You have absolutely no idea what this means to me."

"I'm just glad I got to do this with you. This is something I've always wanted to do, so it's pretty cool that we're getting to now," Micah admitted.

"I don't know how we're ever going to top this."

"I can think of a few things, but they'll have to wait."

"Like what?"

"I'm not telling you."

"Micah, that's not fair."

"I know it's not. But it's fun. Hey, don't look at me like that. You've done the same thing to me. I get to keep certain things as surprises too you know."

"Whatever," Elsa pouted ineffectively. She ended up smiling way too easily to be taken seriously.

"What do you want to do for Halloween this year?" Micah asked.

"I don't know. Probably go to Rose's house like we always do."

"Aren't you kind of bored of the same old parties? We should do something different."

"Like what? It's Halloween, dork. There isn't much else to do."

"What if we found a costume party to go to?" he suggested.

"We can just do that at Rose's," she countered.

Micah simply shrugged, before glancing up at the ceiling. "I dunno, Els. I just want to do something different. I mean, we can all go somewhere else if we want."

"Micah, sweetheart, we don't know anyone else."

"What about Harley? She said her place is big enough."

"We are not going to just invite ourselves over to her place."

"She kind of already inadvertently invited us over. But we can ask her when we get back."

"We'll see."

They sat there for a little bit in the quiet, just watching the fish swim by. The water had enough of a current to cause the kelp to sway gently back and forth every time the water surged from the outside tides. It was peaceful and serene, and the place wasn't nearly as crowded as they had feared it would be. In fact, there were very few people there at all.

"Hey, Els, I, um, have something I wanted to talk to you about," Micah finally said, nervous.

"Yeah? About what?" she asked.

"Do you remember when I told you that I want to start a family with you?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, um, I just wanted you to know that I was dead serious. I've given it a lot of thought, and even though we had that big scare with Amber, things are completely different with you. I know that I want a future with you. I want us to work out, to stay together, and to build a family and home."

"Micah, what is bringing this on? I mean, it's very sweet, and that's what I want too, but I don't understand-" 

Micah was digging around in his pocket for something, and a few moments later he pulled out a little brown box. Eyes widened, Elsa's breath hitched.

"Um, I've never done this before, but I want you to have this," he said as he opened the box. Inside laid a gold ring with tiny crystals embedded around the entire circumference. "This is, um, a promise ring. We're still too young to get married or even engaged, and we're still really early in our relationship. But this is my promise to you that I will one day propose properly. I guess it's kind of my way of telling others that you're mine, and will be mine for a very long time. But it's also my way of telling you that you have something special to look forward to."

Elsa had no idea what to say. She was actually relatively shocked, as this was not something she had ever expected of him. Before she could do anything, Micah took her hand and slid the ring onto her finger. It was a perfect fit.

When she looked down at it, she was still in awe at the whole thing. "You know my ring size?"

"I kind of stole the one I gave you last year so I could get it right," he admitted. "I knew you had it resized, so I just took that with me to the jeweler and had them figure it out that way. Don't worry though, I put the ring back."

He was prepared for her to be elated and overjoyed. He was prepared for her to throw herself at him and squeeze tight. What he wasn't prepared for was for her to break down in front of him and cry.

"Elsa, baby, please don't be upset," he begged. "If you don't like it, I can take it back."

She had her face buried in her hands as she sobbed, but shook her head. "No, I'm not upset Micah. I'm happy. Incredibly happy."

When she threw her arms around his neck, it caught him off guard. Then he wrapped his arms around her and drew her closer.

"I don't know why I always get so emotional when you do these things for me," she whispered into his ear. "I always have and I don't know why. This is why I don't deserve you."

"Sure you do. You deserve better. But I'm doing the best I can," Micah told her. "I'll always do the best I can."

They ended up sitting there for nearly an hour just watching the water and holding one another. They didn't care if they got any strange looks or not. By the time they got up to leave, they were both hungry. Walking hand in hand, Elsa had the biggest, goofiest smile on her face. What Micah had done was quite possibly the greatest surprise she had ever received, and yet she knew she had much more to look forward to. Though she swore it was going to kill her, she could hardly wait.


	41. Chapter 41 - Signs of Affection

**A/N: Okay, so here is the second chapter I promised. I know it's a little early, but I do have a lot of stuff to take care of. So I'm not trying to rush or be impatient, but I want to get the chapter out to you guys before I don't have a chance to do so. This is making up for the fact that next week I won't have internet, and to be honest I don't know how long it will be before I do have internet again.**

 **This chapter focuses purely on the others. Elsa and Micah take a back seat here. In fact, Micah isn't even in this chapter. Elsa is briefly, and that's it. So for those of you that enjoy the other characters or pairs, I hope you enjoy. The next chapter will get things back on track, and focus will shift and be shared between both Elsa and Micah, and Rose and Harley. Kristoff and Anna will be there as well, but they won't be the primary focus. But don't worry about that. I have something special planned for them a little further down the road.**

 **Chapter 41**

 _Signs of Affection_

It was the third week of September, and the weather was still holding out fairly well. The sun was still shining, for the most part, and the rain had decided to avoid pouring down on everyone for the time being. It was nice, and helped prolong the green of the trees before the fall set in. The warmth of summer had begun to wane, but beyond that things were still nice out.

Saturday started early for Anna. Though she preferred to sleep in until noon at least on the weekends, she was actually up before 7 am. Showered, dressed, and in the process of finishing breakfast, she was eagerly awaiting Kristoff's arrival. He was to pick her up around 8:30 am so they could head south to Puyallup. The state fair was going on, and would be for several weeks. They wanted to get there before the crowds took up all the good parking spots, and they wanted to be the first ones through the gate.

At about 8:53 am there was a rhythmic knock at the door, and Anna practically squealed as she ran as fast as her feet would carry her to answer. When she did, Kristoff grinned at her before picking her up effortlessly and planting a big kiss right on her lips. When she giggled, his smile broadened and he set her back down on her feet.

"And how is my princess doing this morning?" Kristoff asked with a smirk.

"Princess? Me? Pfft, please!" Anna replied. "But I'm fine. I'm just about ready to head out. I just have to grab my coat and some money from my mom and we can go."

"I thought I told you that this was my treat. Your money is no good."

"No, I'm taking money and buying my own ticket and everything. I'm not going to make you pay for everything, as sweet of a gesture as that is."

Kristoff rolled his eyes at her, but said nothing more. As he watched her run back upstairs to her room, he checked his phone for the time. The fairgrounds were going to open soon, and he wanted to be there as early as possible.

Just then, Elsa came walking out of the kitchen with a steaming cup of coffee in her hand. She was dressed already and looked somewhat ready to tackle the day, though he knew she hadn't gone to bed before midnight; she had been up playing a game with the rest of them.

"Good morning, Kris," Elsa said as she walked down the stairs to the landing inside the front door.

"Hey there girlie. I'm surprised to see you awake this early," Kristoff replied.

"Yeah, I got some good sleep last night, so I woke up feeling pretty good. Micah is still out cold though."

"You guys sure you don't want to head to the fair with us?"

"We're sure. Neither of us can really handle the crowds, and my anxiety will kick in pretty bad. I actually just found out recently that he has social anxiety too, he just happens to hide it better than I do."

"Well that sucks. I'm sorry to hear that. We'll be sure to bring you back some cotton candy. I'll win a big ol' teddy bear for you too," he said with a grin.

This made Elsa roll her eyes. "Whatever. I hope you guys have a good time. You need to have some fun together."

"We have plenty of fun together. But yeah, I'll make sure we have a good time."

Inside they could hear Anna yell goodbye to her mother before rushing down the hall rather loudly. Once she was ready, they hopped in Kristoff's truck and took off.

The freeway was nice and clear of traffic, and the ride to the fairgrounds was quiet and peaceful. They didn't really talk about much other than what they wanted to do there. Anna was really looking forward to all the animals that'd be on display, and the rides were probably going to see a bit of use. Kristoff was interested in seeing who was performing this year at the concert. Both of them planned on buying a ton of the famous scones that were sold there as well. Last year they were blackberry and raspberry. Anna hoped that they'd bring those flavors back.

They pulled into town around 9:20 am, and found a parking lot pretty quickly. A lot of the people in the area that owned property would turn some of their land into parking lots for the fair, charging a decent price and making a lot of money off of it. So when they found a decent spot, they paid the lot attendant and parked.

The walk to the gate to the fair wasn't long. Only a couple of blocks. Hand in hand, they slowly made their way to the entrance. When they got there, there was already a line that was backed up nearly a hundred feet. They both let out a sigh as they quickly crossed the street and got in line. The wait wouldn't have been bad if it wasn't for the couple in front of them with a crying baby just laying in its stroller being completely ignored. It nearly made Kristoff say something, but Anna tugged on his arm and told him not to worry about it.

After waiting in line for about fifteen minutes, all while listening to the shrieking of an infant, they were finally through the gate. The first thing they did was grab a map off the nearby kiosk before heading anywhere. Unfortunately for Kristoff, Anna was impatient and decided to grab him by the wrist so she could drag him off towards the stables where the animals were. He didn't mind though, since that was basically going to be their first stop anyway.

The moment they were within fifty yards of the first building the smell of manure and hay hit them like a ton of bricks. Anna breathed it in and enjoyed it for some reason, and Kristoff just sort of dealt with it. They could also hear the bleating of the sheep inside, which made her even more giddy.

The first stall they came to had a couple of lambs with their mother, and were being groomed by a couple of teenage girls. One of the lambs walked up to the door to the stall and tried to stick its head through the slats, making Anna giggle and coo over how cute it was. She asked the girls if she could pet the animal, and when they said yes her slender hand was already running through the wool on its head. The thing seemed to enjoy the attention, and after a few minutes Anna decided it was time to move on before she tried to steal the poor critter to take it home with her.

As they worked their way through the stalls and back out to the open air, Kristoff had a smirk on his face the whole time. It was adorable watching Anna as she got excited over all the animals, and it amazed him how full of energy and life the girl was. She was practically bouncing from stall to stall, and was completely captivated by the horses when they came to those.

The next stop was an art gallery, filled with pictures from students all across the state that were submitted to be voted on. There was a lot of talent from what they could see, and it reminded them both of Rose. Then they wondered why she had never submitted anything to the contest. Surely she would have done well.

Once they were back outside, they sort of just stood there and looked around, completely unsure as to where to head to next.

"Well, do you feel like going on some of the rides?" Kristoff asked. "If so, we'll have to go buy tickets."

"I dunno. I kind of want something to drink," Anna replied. "Ooh, look at that! Homemade jewelry!"

Without warning, Anna grabbed his hand and dragged him hard across the courtyard to a canopy with all sorts of jewelry on display. It was mostly the kind made with beads and seashells, shark teeth, and other odd bits and ends. While pouring over everything, her eyes fell on a little pewter dragon on a piece of leather lace. It's wings were folded up at its sides, and one claw clasping an iridescent marble. It was very pretty in her opinion, but when her eyes fell on the price, she felt a little deflated.

"What's wrong?" Kristoff asked, noticing the change in his girlfriend.

"Oh, nothing. It's just that this necklace is really pretty, but it's a little too much," she told him.

"Hey, if you want it, it's yours."

"Kristoff, I'm not going to have you spend $25 on a necklace for me. It's fine. I'll live without it."

It was just like the redhead to be stubborn about something like that. Rolling his eyes, he took the thing off the rack it was on and handed it to the lady that was in charge of the stand. Once the money changed hands, he forced Anna to stand still long enough to slip the necklace over her head. She looked up at him and glared at him for a brief second before sighing.

"You know I hate it when you do stuff like this," she said.

"Yeah, I don't know why though. Lots of guys do this sort of stuff for their girlfriends."

They had wandered out of the tent and began to head in the direction of the food court so they could get Anna that drink she wanted. Luckily, they were far enough away from the stables so the air was fresh again.

"But I don't want you doing that for me. I'm not worth the trouble."

"Is that what this is about? You and Elsa both have this sense of self-worth that is depressing as hell. You most certainly are worth it. In my eyes, you are worth a whole lot more."

Anna tried her best to look frustrated, but secretly she was loving the fact that Kristoff thought that way. He was a very sweet guy, and always treated her very well. That's why she loved him so much. He treated her properly. There was no abuse or anger in their relationship. They got along incredibly well.

Eventually they made their way to the rides, and had to stop at the ticket booth and get enough for at least half a dozen rides. As soon as the tickets were in her hands Anna nearly sped off without him. If Kristoff hadn't noticed, she would have disappeared and left him stranded. He chased after her the best he could, but it was difficult to keep up. When he finally did reach her, she was standing in line for something called 'The Scrambler'. The whole premise was for the rider to sit inside a caboose that spun around in miniature circles, were grouped in small clusters on these large mechanical arms, and then the entire thing would also spin. He knew he was going to regret it, but he did it for her.

After a ten minute wait, and a three minute ride, Kristoff was both dizzy and sick to his stomach. Unfortunately, Anna was incredibly excited and just getting started. Without giving him a chance to recover, she grabbed his hand and dragged him off towards what was a massive carousel with swings suspended from it. Letting out a heavy sigh, he begrudgingly got in line with her as she hopped around.

"Exactly how many rides do you plan on going on?" Kristoff asked her.

"Oh, I dunno. Until I'm out of tickets," Anna replied. "Why?"

"Well, we've already been here for a little bit, and I'm getting hungry. Plus there's more to see."

"Okay, fine. After this we can go get lunch."

After another nauseating round on what he thought was going to be a death trap, Kristoff checked his phone to see what the time was. Instead, he saw he had a missed call from Elsa and a text telling him to call her back immediately. It sounded kind of urgent, so that's exactly what he did. Anna gave him a curious look, but he just held up a finger to silence her. As soon as the phone rang and Elsa answered, he knew instantly something was wrong.

"Hey Els, I got your message. What's up?"

 _"Kristoff! It's Ellie! She got hit by a car!"_ Elsa panicked into the phone.

"Wait, what!? How did that happen?"

 _"I'm not sure how she got out, but the front door was wide open when I came downstairs to talk to my mom. I saw Ellie laying down at the end of the driveway and...Oh god!"_

"Alright, calm down! Is she okay?"

 _"We don't know. We're taking her down to the emergency vet right now. Micah is driving. I think she has at least a broken leg. But she's barely moving, and is breathing really fast. She hardly whimpered when we picked her up."_

"Okay, what do you want us to do?"

 _"I don't know. There isn't much that you can do. We're almost to the vet now. I'll let you know as soon as we know what's going on. I'm just scared she might have to be put down. I don't think I can handle that!"_

"Look, no matter what, we'll help you take care of the medical costs, alright? Just get her there and get her better. Anna and I are about to have lunch. I think we might head home after. We're gonna buy a bunch of scones, so you can have some sort of snack when we get back. Hopefully the sweets will make you feel better. Just try not to freak out too much, okay? We'll see you guys in a bit."

 _"Okay. I'm sorry to ruin your day with this. It's not what I wanted at all."_

"Don't worry about it. Just get that dog to the vet. We'll call you when we leave."

Once he was off the phone, he was getting all kinds of looks from Anna, mostly confusion and worry. Running a hand through his hair in frustration, and frowned at her and shrugged.

"Ellie got hit by a car this morning after we left. I think maybe we didn't close the front door all the way. I don't know. She was at the end of the driveway when Elsa found her. They're headed to the emergency vet down by Fred Meyer right now. Your sister isn't doing too good at the moment."

Letting out a gasp, Anna immediately looked upset and covered her mouth in shock. "Oh no! So what are we going to do?"

"Well, for now we're gonna go eat. After, we can decide what we're gonna do. Maybe head home or something. I don't particularly feel like checking out who's performing anymore."

The rest of their time at the fair was rather depressing. Everyone was very fond of Ellie, and now that she was in such poor condition, both Anna and Kristoff were rather worried about her. But more than that, they were worried for Elsa. This was going to have a serious impact on her, and if she lost her dog she would end up on another downward spiral. But for now, all they could do is wait patiently to hear back from her and find out how Ellie was doing.

00000

Snag Island was insane. There were so many enormous homes that were worth millions that it was dizzying and scary at the same time. Every time Rose tried to comprehend just how wealthy some of these people really were, she'd learn from Harley that there was someone even more wealthy than that. She had no idea if it ever stopped.

It was surprising to her the first time she visited the island that the security guard at the front gate even let her through. Her car certainly wasn't anything special, and Rose didn't look like she was worth any money at all. Yes, her parents both worked for a living, and they were stable, but they certainly weren't beyond middle class. The people that lived here on the island were incredibly wealthy. They didn't have to struggle from paycheck to paycheck. It had made Rose feel very out of place.

Harley, at least, didn't think that way. She had reassured the artist that she was more than welcome there, and that people there weren't as snooty and uptight as people liked to believe. Maybe she was right. But Rose would never find out. They spent very little time there as it was. Harley hated being at home most of the time. She wasn't sure, but Rose suspected that there was still tension between Harley and her parents. It would have made sense. They still weren't completely comfortable with having a lesbian for a daughter. Or so Rose assumed.

It was 7pm, and Rose was with Harley since their friends were all busy. Kristoff had taken Anna to the fair, and Elsa was having an emergency with Ellie. So it was just them. It was fine, really. They didn't get to spend much time together during the week, not with school back in session. Rose was willing to pick up and drop off Harley every day, which was a major surprise to everyone considering how far out of the way the blonde was. But Rose didn't seem to care. She made sure to be there every morning in order to pick her girlfriend up. Harley thought it was kind of romantic.

They were sitting in Harley's game room, which was on the third floor of their massive home. It had all their game consoles, a foozball table, a pool table, and Harley's father's computer. The massive TV at the center of the room was turned low so they could watch an anime that Rose had brought over. It was the one she had gotten for her birthday. The one that was rated for adults only. Luckily, Harley's parents weren't home.

"So tell me again why you brought this movie over?" Harley asked as she was munching on a bag of chips. Salt and vinegar chips, to be exact.

"I hadn't watched it yet, and I wanted to see how ridiculous it was with you. Since I knew your parents were going to be gone all night, I figured this was the perfect opportunity. So far, it doesn't seem like anything special," Rose commented.

"Well, considering that the whole premise is these girls with ginormous boobs are all trying to get into this guy's pants, and he's completely oblivious, it's safe to say that it is indeed ridiculous."

"I know. I don't see why this is adult only. There hasn't even been any nudity," Rose said, slightly disappointed.

"Is that all you wanted? You should have just asked, love," Harley teased.

"If I didn't know you as well as I do, I'd be almost embarrassed. But I know that that won't happen, so it's fine."

Harley crossed her arms and looked hurt. "Who says that it won't happen?"

"Harley, we've been taking things very slow. We've been together for nearly two months, and we hardly kiss. I'm pretty confident that nothing is gonna happen."

"We hardly kiss because I don't want to freak you out with going too fast. I want to kiss more. I want deep kisses. Hell, I want you to hold my hand when we walk around. But I know you're still really scared and nervous, so I don't push the issue. I'm so ready to move forward with our relationship. I want to be able to tell the world that I have the most awesome girlfriend ever. That she's smart, and beautiful, and witty, and talented. That she's the sweetest person I know. Well, next to Elsa. That girl is something else. But you know what I mean."

"Why didn't you ever tell me that's what you wanted?" Rose asked.

"Because, I didn't want to scare you away. I know you're still unsure about this whole dating thing. Sometimes I wonder if maybe you don't want this at all."

That kind of stung a little, and Rose took it more personally than she normally would have. "What? You really think that?"

"Sometimes I do. I mean, you're fun to be with when we do normal stuff. But when it comes to couples stuff, you're very distant. I don't understand why. Am I not pretty enough for you or something?" Harley asked, kind of scared of the answer.

"What!? No! I mean yes! You are very pretty, Harley. I think you're gorgeous. I'm just nervous. That's all. I don't know what I'm doing. It's kind of funny that I can give Elsa all the advice in the world and help her with her love life, but I'm hopeless when it comes to my own."

"Then will you start being more open and intimate with me?"

"I guess I can try. I just don't know what to do. I'm afraid of making a fool out of myself. The last thing I need is you thinking I'm a loser."

"Rose, baby, do you really think I would say that about you?"

"I would like to think not."

"Okay then. No, I will never think you're a loser. You're very special to me, and I love you. There, I said it."

Rose froze for just a moment, but only for a brief moment at most. "You love me?"

"Yes. I haven't said it until now because I thought it would be too soon, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel that way until recently. I've loved you for a while now. You make me so happy when we're together. I just wish you'd be more of a girlfriend with me. I know you're scared of what other people will say and do, but we can't live our lives in fear forever, love," Harley said sweetly.

"How do you want me to do that?" Rose asked timidly.

"Like I said, hold my hand when we're out walking around, or sitting at a restaurant. Or while we're sitting here watching this stupid anime. Give me kisses that mean something more than just a little quick peck on the lips. I want there to be passion behind them. Hug me, hold me, tell me that I'm pretty more often. Hell, give me back rubs every now and then. Just stuff that you wouldn't do with your normal friends."

"Okay. I'll try and be better about it. I'm sorry that I've been so cold. It hasn't been on purpose. But you're right, I am afraid of what other people will say or do. Especially at school. That's why I keep my distance. It's not that I'm disgusted by you or am ashamed of being with you. It's that I'm scared that we'll deal with something horrible and it could hurt us, especially you. It would kill me to see something bad happen to you."

Harley snatched up Rose's hand in hers and held it tight, and just stared her straight in the eyes. "I don't care anymore. At first I didn't want anyone to know about us. But now, I do. I want everyone to know. Call it a territorial thing, but I want everyone to know that I'm taken, and so are you. I'm not willing to share you with anyone."

"Well, I'm not willing to share you either, although I suppose that won't be an issue. We're outcasts at school, and nobody would look twice at us as it is."

"It doesn't matter. The fact remains that you are mine, Rose Arlette."

"Harley, I've never seen you act like this before," Rose said. "What has gotten into you?"

"I'm just done hiding," Harley stated. "I'm sick of being scared. I want to be able to be with my girlfriend in a relationship that people know about. It shouldn't be this dirty little secret. The only people that know about us are our friends. Who cares if the kids at school find out?"

"Well, if you're sure about this, then I guess we can do it. I'm just afraid."

"I know you are, sweetie. But there's no reason to be. I'll be right there with you every step of the way."

Rose had a nervous grin on her face, but she didn't look away. She kept on staring Harley right in her big chocolaty brown eyes. Their eyes were locked, and neither moved. After a few moments, Rose looked away and chuckled to herself, which got a strange look from the blonde.

"What's so funny?" Harley asked, confused.

"Oh, it's not that anything is funny. You're just so damn adorable. I want to actually hold you and kiss you. But it didn't seem like a very appropriate time to do it."

"Well, why not? I've been waiting for you to do that all night."

"You have?"

"Yes, Rose. I mean, I want to do more than just that, but at the very least I want to be in your arms."

"Oh. Um, well, we can do that if you want," Rose said bashfully.

Rolling her eyes at Rose, Harley crawled across the couch to her and straddled her lap, facing her. Slowly wrapping her arms behind her girlfriend's neck, Harley leaned down and kissed her full on the lips. It was gentle at first, but when she went back for a second one, it was a bit more aggressive and powerful. Rose had brought her hands up to Harley's waist and held onto her hips, and kissed the girl back just as strongly. Then she got brave, and begged the blonde to open her mouth and let their tongues meet. They slid across one another sloppily, but neither stopped. When they broke the kiss, Harley looked down at Rose and licked her lips, then leaned down and began kissing her neck. Her kisses were wet as she was using her tongue to lick the skin as well, and it was drawing some moaning out of the artist. Working her way down to Rose's collarbone, she stopped long enough flash a glance back up at her girlfriend's face, then dove in and began to suck.

For some reason she couldn't quite figure out, this drove Rose wild. She found that her hands had slid from Harley's hips to her bottom, and started to rub and squeeze gently. Her jeans were drawn tight, leaving very little to the imagination. Harley took notice, and slowly started grinding her hips against Rose's lap. It just further sent Rose into a frenzy, and she leaned her head forward enough to lightly nip Harley on the shoulder, earning her a small whimper from the girl. Breaking free from sucking on Rose's flesh, the blonde looked back up at her beautiful girlfriend with a strange look in her eyes. They were glazed over, and she was still grinding against Rose. When she kissed her on the nose, Harley smiled.

"I think maybe we should move this to the bedroom," she whispered into Rose's ear. "I'm feeling something that I want to take care of very badly."

Rose didn't seem to pay any attention to her. She nipped at the girl's shoulder again, and ran her hands back up along Harley's curves, then crept her hands up underneath her shirt. At first she was just touching the bare skin above the waistline of Harley's pants. Then they crept up further, and finally found her breasts as she cupped them both in each hand. The blonde didn't say or do anything more than moan softly. Then, a moment later, she lifted her shirt up and pulled it over her head, tossing it aside. Rose's eyes went wide for a second, but then she became incredibly hungry. She started to kiss Harley right above the belly, then slowly worked her way up to nuzzle herself right between the girl's breasts. When she looked up into Harley's eyes, they could both tell that they wanted more. Much more.

Then, before either could make another move, they heard the front door downstairs unlock and open, and they both panicked. Quickly, Harley grabbed up her shirt and fought with it to pull it back over her head as she could hear footsteps coming up the stairs. Moments later, her mother entered the room and found both girls sitting on the couch together.

"Sorry hon, but our plans got canceled. So we're home early," she said apologetically.

"Oh, it's okay mom," Harley said, trying to control her breathing. "We were just watching some movie that Rose brought over. Nothing exciting going on here."

"Okay. I think you're father and I are just going to order a couple pizzas for dinner. How does that sound?"

"Sounds great."

After her mother left, Harley let out the biggest sigh she had ever made. Rose was almost shaking, she was terrified that they were going to be caught. Neither said anything for several minutes.

"Okay, well, that was close," Harley finally said, breaking the silence.

"Yeah. I shouldn't have gotten so greedy," Rose admitted.

"Nonsense. I didn't want you to stop. I was willing to let you take me right here. If they hadn't come home, we could be doing far more right now."

"Yeah, well, now I'm scared of getting caught. Maybe I should just go. I don't want to get you in trouble."

"Rose, babe, I want you here. And we won't get in any trouble. They don't know. Besides, there's always later tonight after we go to bed. So just wait until later and we'll have our fun."

"Yeah, okay. That was a lot of fun though. And you're really soft. Just saying."

"Well, later you'll get to see just how else I feel," Harley said in the most seductive voice she could manage.

They went back to watching their anime, not paying attention to what was going on at all. They ended up returning to fondling and kissing one another, every so often shooting a glance towards the stairs. After a bit they were called downstairs for dinner, and as far as Rose was concerned that was the longest dinner she had ever eaten. She was desperately looking forward to going to bed, and could hardly wait.


	42. Chapter 42 - The Breaking Point

**A/N: Alright, so I have a few things to say that are kind of important, but not entirely. Yeah. Kind of a 50/50 sort of deal.**

 **First off, the good news. I'm finally all moved into my new place, and it's awesome. It's quiet, there is a bajillion places to go shopping and eat at, and I have custody of my daughter. Or at least I do for the time being. She REALLY didn't want to live with her mother. Oh, that's the other thing, my ex is nowhere near me. Score!**

 **Now for the bad news. The day before I was supposed to move I lost my job. Now, it's partially my fault, but it's also the company's fault as well for losing some paperwork I had submitted to cover a few days of absence. I have proof that I submitted it, and right now my union is working to get me my job back. So hopefully something good will happen. I need the money, and it was a very good paying job.**

 **On the other hand, I was very close to quitting anyway. I hated the job itself, and the company. For those of you that don't know, I was an airplane mechanic for Boeing(Boeing's definition of a mechanic is not the same as the rest of the world's definition), which basically meant I drilled holes, inserted fasteners, and slapped brackets and other crap together to build the airplane. Not the same as an automechanic. Just wanted to clarify that. But yeah, the job and company sucked. The ONLY good thing about it was the pay and benefits. I'll miss those, but at the same time I won't miss the job.**

 **Anyway, onto news about the story. I have a few things I want to tell you guys. First off all, this chapter is a little different than most. It has two story arcs running concurrently, so if it seems like there are two different days taking place, it's not. It's all the same day, just two different perspectives happening at the same time. You'll see what I mean.**

 **Second, this chapter begins the what will become the conclusion of what I'm affectionately calling the "Jeremy's Revenge" arc. No, it's not the finale, but this chapter starts the events that will lead up to said finale. There's only a handful of chapters left to it. But it also begins a new story arc for a couple other characters. You'll see what I mean in just a moment.**

 **Oh, and those of you that are Anna and Kristoff fans, don't worry. Anna is getting her own story arc soon.**

 **Anyway, the third thing is that I am getting to a point where the school year will be over soon(as in, I'm about 10 chapters ahead of what I'm posting), but I'm sort of running out of ideas again. Writer's block sucks. I'm sure I'll overcome it, but it's going to take a bit I think. But hey, if you have any ideas for what could happen next for Elsa and Micah(since the others will be busy with their own arcs for the time being), please leave a review and detail what you think should happen. I'm always taking ideas and requests and trying my damnedest to incorporate them into the story.**

 **Finally, I'm going to give a shout out to a few people that I have been talking to and brainstorming with behind the scenes. First, my friend Jacob(who doesn't have an account, but he's sort of my beta reader), who is the one that helped me create Harley and determine Rose should be bisexual. I thought that was pretty cool of him, and a good idea.**

 **Next is my buddy Shawn Raven, who has moved on to other stories. But he helped me figure out a couple of the more controversial parts of the story. So thanks, man.**

 **VenomousFantom is another one that has helped with certain story ideas, especially with Rose and Harley. But believe it or not, he's helped with Anna and Kristoff a little bit too, even though they're not his favorites. The fact that you helped at all is awesome, my friend.**

 **Finally, we have Waguneru, who I haven't heard from recently, but that's okay. He's helped a lot with ideas, and if you've ever read any of his reviews, you know he gets pretty deep into the story and characters. He likes theorycrafting, and I enjoy reading his thoughts. They may not always be accurate, but it's still fun, and gives me ideas constantly. So cheers.**

 **And that's it. If I've missed anyone, I'm sorry. All of you guys matter in some way, and I'm thankful that you like my story enough to keep reading it. I don't know what else to say other thank thank you.**

 **Okay, shutting up. On to the story.**

 **Chapter 42**

 _The Breaking Point_

October 11th, 2016. Fall had finally kicked into high gear, and the leaves were changing with the season. The rain had started to pick back up as it always did, the air had a slight chill to it. It was a time to be indoors to keep dry and warm. Although, Halloween was just a few short weeks away. This meant the streets would be incredibly busy for one solitary night before the windstorms of November arrived.

Rose had arrived at her girlfriend's place at roughly 6:45 am like she did every morning. Every morning it'd be the same routine. Harley would be busy tearing her room apart looking for the perfect outfit for the day, Rose would be sitting on the bed with her arms crossed and a slight headache, and they'd manage to run out the door with just enough time to find a parking spot right before the first period bell would ring. It was this way every morning.

"You know, we're running late. So hurry up and find something to wear," Rose said, slightly irritated.

Digging through her closet and tossing clothes onto the floor in a pile, Harley waved her off like she was barely paying attention. "I'm almost ready. I just have to find something to wear with this skirt."

"I don't care what you wear, and neither does anyone else at school. So pick something and let's go."

This only annoyed the blonde, and she let out a short growl in frustration. "You know, I don't just dress up for you. I dress up for me. I _like_ to feel good when I pick out an outfit. I don't do it for anyone else."

"I know that, babe," Rose said with a sigh. "But we're running late. At this rate, we're only going to have a few minutes when we get there, and that's if traffic cooperates with us."

Harley was still scouring her closet for something, _anything_ , to wear. She was nearly out of options, and the rest of the rejects were still in a crumpled mess on the floor. Whatever it was she was looking for, she wasn't finding it.

"Damn it. That's just about everything. Maybe I'll just go with the shirt with the pink girl skulls on it."

"Do that. It'll look great on you."

"You're just saying that because you're in a hurry," Harley said with a huff. But, she started to dig through the pile once more, and when she found what she wanted, she yanked it up, making an even bigger mess than before.

"Great. Can we go now?" Rose asked impatiently.

"Only if you promise to stop being grumpy," Harley replied, pouting.

"Alright, blondie. Let's go."

The ride to school was quiet, and luckily they didn't have to deal with Harley's mom on the way out. She had a tendency to talk too much, holding them back and sometimes making them a bit late. In any case, they were finally on their way, and dealing with morning traffic heading down back into the city was fairly normal. The school buses had already made their rounds, so there was no stopping and waiting. It was roughly a twenty minute drive from Harley's place to the high school, and that was without traffic. At the rate they were going, it was going to be close.

After what felt like an eternity in the car, they found themselves parked at the far end of the school's parking lot. As they climbed out, they noticed how few students were still outside, and decided that it was probably best that they hurried themselves. They had been late before by a couple minutes, and got a little scolding from their teachers. But that was the extent of the punishment. This time, however, they still had a few minutes before class started.

Once they were inside, they decided to head to the cafeteria just in case the others were still there. Not surprisingly, the lunch room was completely empty. So were the halls. This meant that class was very close to starting, and they decided to rush towards the stairs.

"Hey, I'll see you at lunch, okay?" Harley told Rose sweetly.

"Okay. Take care," Rose replied.

"I love you."

Rose instantly froze for a moment before quickly looking around to make sure that they weren't overheard. "Um, I don't know if we should be saying that here."

"Damn it Rose, when are you going to stop being such a coward? We talked about this, remember? You said you'd start showing me some affection when we were out, including at school. You promised," Harley reminded her, albeit a bit harshly.

"Can we talk about this later? We're going to be late for class. At lunch, I swear. Okay?"

"Whatever."

Before Rose could say anything more, she watched as her girlfriend spun around and walked off, leaving her there alone on the stairs. With a heavy sigh and a defeated look on her face, Rose trudged her way up the stairs and towards her first period class. She could hear footsteps following behind her, and when she looked back praying that it was Harley, she was slightly let down to see it was one of the girls from her class trying to make it in time before the bell rang.

First period was math, and she shared the class with Micah. They actually sat next to each other, which was convenient for him since it meant he could copy his answers off her homework. At first she didn't really mind, but she had slowly grown to get a little irritated with him doing that. So, since then she's been doing her best to help explain things to him and force him to do his own work. It was sort of working, although she admitted she was no Elsa when it came to tutoring the poor boy. That girl had a real gift.

The start of class was dull, with the teacher collecting homework and the rest of the students mostly just talking amongst themselves. Micah could instantly tell just by looking at her that Rose wasn't in the best of moods.

"Hey, what's wrong with you? You seem kind of grumpy," he asked her while he dug through his bag for his math book.

"It's nothing," Rose said curtly.

"Rose, it's obvious that it's not nothing. Did something happen?"

"I said it's nothing, Micah. Just drop it."

"Come on, Rose, you know you can tell me," Micah assured her.

"Just mind your own damn business!" she said angrily, and a little too loudly.

"Is something wrong you two?" The teacher had overheard and was standing in front of their table, hands on her hips.

"No, it's nothing. Everything is perfectly fine, Mrs. Hornbeck," Micah quickly replied.

With a nod, the teacher turned and headed back to her desk without saying another word. Quickly shooting a glance towards her, he made sure she was occupied before turning his attention back to his friend.

"Look, I don't know what is wrong, and I'm sorry if I pissed you off. I'm just worried and trying to help," he said.

Letting out another heavy sigh, Rose crossed her arms and looked away for a brief moment. "It's fine. I'm sorry. Harley is mad at me and I don't know what to do about it. We kind of had a fight right before class."

"Oh. That sucks. What was the fight about?"

"Just relationship stuff," Rose said with a shrug.

"Well, I hope things blow over soon. You guys don't need to be fighting. But if you decide you want to talk to me about it, I'm right here."

"I know. Thanks. I've just got some things I need to sort out in my head. It's no big deal."

Once the teacher began the morning's lecture, everyone fell silent and turned their attention towards the front of the class. Roughly halfway through class, Rose felt a tap on her shoulder and a piece of paper was slid onto her desk. When she looked to see who it was, everyone was paying attention to the teacher. She was curious to see what the paper said, so she hid it under the desk and started to unfold it.

"What's that?" Micah suddenly whispered to her.

"I have no idea. I don't even know who gave it to me," Rose shrugged.

Once the paper was opened up, Rose just sort of stared for a moment in silence. Instead of reading it out loud to him, Rose's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. Then she immediately passed it off to Micah before slamming her head onto the desktop.

 _"I know about you, you filthy queer. You better watch yourself,"_ he read. "What? Who the hell gave this to you?"

Rose didn't say a word, only shrugged. She was still face-down on the desk, and Micah instantly started scanning the room for the culprit. Unfortunately, nobody looked even remotely guilty or suspicious. When he looked back at his friend, he saw that she was silently crying.

"Hey, it's okay," he whispered, rubbing her back to try and calm her down. "We'll find out who did this, then we'll hand them over to the teacher. But you can't let them get to you like this."

Eventually Rose did sit back up, but she was still wiping her eyes dry. To Micah, she looked humiliated and scared. Somehow, the teacher had remained completely oblivious to the whole thing. Micah wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. He knew that Rose didn't want any attention brought to it because she just wanted to fly under the radar and graduate without any issues. But that clearly wasn't going to happen.

"Hopefully this won't happen again," he said to her. "But we'll have to tell someone if it does."

It was only another ten minutes before class let out, and when it did Rose quickly gathered her things and stormed out of the room before Micah could say anything further. Instead of heading to her next class, Rose made a beeline straight for the girls' restroom. She didn't care if she was alone in there or not. She just had to get away for a few minutes.

To her surprise, the restroom was empty. That was the best-case scenario in her opinion. Tossing her bag on the floor, she walked over to one of the sinks and turned it on, splashing some cold water on her face. Letting the water just run, Rose stared into the grimy mirror and sighed. She looked like a mess. She hadn't cried like that since her birthday. It was embarrassing, and whoever wrote that note was an asshole. What she couldn't figure out was how they would've known. Nobody at the school knew about her other than her friends. That she was sure of. She had been so careful.

Then her thoughts went to Harley. She was terrified of what would happen to her, although the blonde would most likely handle it far better. But she was still scared. Rose didn't want anything bad to happen to her girlfriend. She would rather it was her that had to deal with the brunt of things. Although it was just one person for now, there was the very real possibility that it could become more.

After a time, Rose finally talked herself into heading to class. On the way, she prayed that there were no more incidents. But as she drew closer to the classroom, she had a very sour feeling in her gut. Her nerves were shot already. She kept telling herself over and over that it was just a note, that it didn't really mean anything. Unfortunately, it wasn't just the note that was affecting her. Somebody _knew._

Thankfully, second and third period passed without any further problems. Rose still couldn't shake the nasty feeling in her stomach, and for whatever reason, she was still somewhat upset. Lunch was going to be a saving grace for her, because she could at least see Harley and make up with her. Right now, she needed that. She needed the warmth and love from the blonde, and she knew that Harley would forgive her. At least, she hoped so.

When lunch finally rolled around, Rose hurried straight to the lunch room just so she could be there when Harley arrived. She wasn't hungry, so decided to skip eating altogether. The note was clutched in her hand, a morbid reminder of her worst fears. It was the exclamation point at the end of a list of terrible things that she hoped would never happen. The only thing that could be worse than people finding out about her was the thought of Harley leaving her. She couldn't stand the thought of being alone again, and losing her girlfriend over her own ineptitude in regards to her feelings and displays of affection was quite possibly the scariest thing she could imagine.

Rose was the first one to the cafeteria, and threw her bag down on the table before collapsing in one of the chairs. She was tense, and her leg was shaking in anticipation of the conversation she'd have to have. Not once in her entire life had she ever been so nervous. If it wasn't Harley she was dealing with, she wouldn't have been nearly as bad off as she was. But it was, and it was their first fight. She had no idea what to expect or how to handle it.

Soon enough, the others started to arrive. Kristoff and Anna strolled in hand in hand, and Anna was talking animatedly about something. Kristoff, being the kind of laid back guy that he was, listened without interrupting her. They made a cute couple, and Rose envied them. It was almost nauseating how adorable they were together.

"Hey Rose! How are you?" Anna asked happily as she took a seat across the table, right next to her boyfriend.

"Fine," Rose replied, still waiting impatiently for her blonde.

"That's not much of an answer. What's up?"

"Just waiting."

"Waiting for what?"

"Harley."

"Oh, I saw her walking here. She didn't look all that happy though. Really unlike her," Anna said thoughtfully.

"Was she at least headed this way?" Rose asked.

"Yeah. I think so. Why?"

"I need to talk to her about something. It's kind of important."

"Oh, well, she should be here any moment."

Rose hung her head and sighed, but said nothing more. The wait was killing her. She thought about telling the others about what had happened in class, but decided against it. She'd tell them later. Right now, she had other things to worry about. Besides, she knew full well that Micah would probably tell them for her. The funny thing was, she didn't really care.

It was only a couple minutes more before the blonde walked in, and the moment she did Rose bolted out of her seat and straight to her. When she got close, they sort of stared at each other for a few seconds without saying a word. Rose was wringing her hands together, and Harley didn't look all that happy. It was kind of awkward for the artist.

Finally, taking a deep breath, Rose decided to forge ahead and do her best to smooth things over. "Harley, I-"

"Save it, Rose," Harley interrupted. "I don't feel like talking about it right now. I'm hungry, and I'm still a little hurt and pissed."

"I know. I'm sorry. But something happened that I think you need to know about."

Before Harley could say another word, Rose thrust the note she had received that morning into her hands. Giving her a quizzical look, Harley glanced down at the crumpled up piece of paper and smoothed it out to read it. When she did, her eyebrows narrowed ever so slightly.

"Rose, what the hell is this?" Harley finally asked.

"Someone slipped it onto my desk in first period. I didn't get to see who it was. It's been bothering me all day. This is exactly what I've been so afraid of."

"Yeah, I know. You keep reminding me of that. So what, you're going to let something like this stop you from telling me you love me?"

"What!? No!" Rose quickly said, glancing around to make sure nobody overheard.

"Then what the hell, Rose? Why are you so afraid of showing me any type of affection?"

"I'm not!"

"Then prove it!" Harley shouted, arms crossed in front of her.

Rose didn't have anything further to say. She was afraid, and her face betrayed her immediately. People were starting to stare, and she could feel all their eyes on them. It was making her queasy.

"That's what I thought. I'm going to go get lunch."

And just like that, Harley stormed by Rose and disappeared from sight. The artist was left there, frozen in place, and feeling incredibly small and insignificant. Instead of running after her, Rose chose to stand there and stare. She knew there was no chance of smoothing things over anytime soon.

00000

"Man, is it Friday yet?" Micah asked for the umpteenth time that morning.

"It's only Tuesday, dork," Elsa replied, rolling her eyes as she turned the car into the school parking lot. "You still have a whole four days. Relax."

The drive in had been pretty calm, aside from Micah's whining, and traffic had been very light. So for the first time in quite a while, they had managed to arrive nearly forty minutes before the bell for class rang. This meant they actually had time to enjoy breakfast for a change. It was nice when they got to do that, because it was time alone before school started. It also meant that they got to see their friends a bit before everyone became busy for the day.

The parking lot was relatively empty, and they got to park right next to the doors by the gym. This led straight in towards the cafeteria. It was the perfect spot. Strangely, they saw Kristoff's truck just a few spots away, meaning that somehow her sister and what they had all begun to affectionately call the "mountain man" were already there waiting. Neither Elsa or Micah had any clue how they were beaten there. They were sure they had left first.

Hopping out and walking around to the passenger door, Elsa dug around inside to get a few things she needed for a presentation she had for her world history class. Her teacher had permitted the class to choose their own topics for their research and report, and Elsa had chosen the Mongolians and the invasion into China. She knew it was something nobody else would choose, so she felt it was the perfect subject. Plus she loved that sort of stuff.

As they entered the lunch room, they saw that Kristoff and Anna were already there eating. Elsa still couldn't believe that they had gotten there first. When she sat down, she gave both of them a very confused look.

"How the hell did you guys beat us here?" she asked.

Kristoff just looked at her and smirked. "Back roads."

"What back roads?" Micah questioned as he pulled up a chair. "It's a straight freaking shot here!"

"Well, it's a secret. I can't tell you everything, now can I?"

The others just looked at him and rolled their eyes. If he wanted to be mysterious and secretive, then that was his prerogative. "Whatever. What do you guys want to do this weekend?" Anna asked after a minute.

"I don't know. It's still too early to decide. My English teacher said that we were going to have to do a report pretty soon, so I might get stuck doing that all weekend," Elsa said with a sigh.

"It seems like all your classes are doing that to you," Anna replied. "It's still early in the year. We've only been in school for a month and a half."

"That's what happens when you're in all the advanced classes," Micah said.

"It's not nearly as bad as you guys are making it sound. I don't have any projects for my trig class, and I can do my web and graphics design assignments here at school," Elsa told them.

"You're still taking that? I thought it was only a two year course," Kristoff said with a raised eyebrow, mindlessly stabbing his hash browns with a plastic fork.

"They got an advanced class just this year. I didn't have any computer classes last year. Our projects are actually being hand picked by some local businesses. I don't really care about that too much. I mean, it'd be cool if mine got picked by one of them, but I've got other plans."

"Yeah? What's that?"

"I want to start working on a website with information about child abuse and resources to help people."

"No kiddin'?" Kristoff said. "That's kind of cool. Plus, it's just like you."

They sat and talked idly until it was time for first period, and when the bell rang they parted ways. Elsa was curious about the whereabouts of Rose and Harley, but she figured they were running late again. That had been happening quite a bit lately. It didn't help that Harley lived so far away. With the distance Rose had to drive to pick the blonde up, it was a wonder that they ever made it to school at all. Thankfully, Harley had begun taking a driver's safety course, and Rose was secretly teaching her how to drive out in the back roads by the farm land. Supposedly, she was slowly getting the hang of it.

Her first period class was AP Physics, which she didn't particularly care for. But the work wasn't too hard for her. She was lucky, though. The teacher was quite good, and made it much easier for her to keep on top of things. In fact, that was how it had always been for her. In the off chances she had a teacher that was sub-optimal for the class she was in, she always had the internet. Elsa was one of the few people her age that was fully aware that they were blessed to have such information and technology available to them.

The day's lesson was a simple review of the stuff they had covered over the last several days. They were due to have a test at the end of the week, which meant she was going to be busy studying to prepare for it. She knew that there wasn't much need for her to worry. The material wasn't all that complicated. But still, it was best to be prepared regardless. So all period, she sat and took notes. She didn't even bother making it fun. No doodles or smiley faces or anything. Just straight and to the point in the neatest handwriting she could manage.

Time ticked by slowly, but as soon as class was over, Elsa was ready to head out the door. As she got up to leave, she unconsciously looked around the room when she noticed that one of the guys in the back of the class was staring at her. Not only was he staring at her, but he had a scowl on his face as if she had somehow offended him.

Without wanting to make an issue of it, she quickly finished packing her things back into her bag and sped out of the room and down the hall to her next class. She was used to the mass of bodies everywhere, which she didn't like but did her best to ignore regardless. The other students would always push and jostle her around, and being so tiny in frame, it was a simple thing to do. There was just no chance of her getting by unscathed.

Her second period class was one she didn't care for, and one that was thankfully way too easy. It was her 12th grade English class, and the teacher was a complete ass. Mr. Cullens, the most pompous, arrogant, smug know-it-all Elsa had ever met. As she had put it to her friends, he gave Jeremy a run for his money. The class would otherwise be a lot of fun. Unfortunately, all of that fun was sucked dry by the teacher.

Luckily, it went by quickly, and the homework assignment was a simple essay. Not too bad. Third period was just down the hall, and it was right by her locker, which made it easy to empty out her bag and get her things for the presentation she was supposed to give. That was something she had actually been looking forward to, which was rare, especially considering she hated speaking in front of the class. But this was something that actually interested her. That made all the difference.

As soon as the bell rang, the teacher was up at the front of the room asking for volunteers to do their presentations. Elsa surprised herself in raising her hand excitedly. This, too, took the teacher by surprise, as she was the first one to shoot their hand up into the air. For the last month and a half, Elsa had been the quiet type that kept to herself. It was obvious from day one. So Mr. Mathews was shocked to see Elsa come out of her shell so suddenly.

Quickly she gathered up her things and headed up front to set up. Her tri-fold poster board had diagrams and pictures that she pulled from the internet, and had the Mongolian flag slapped right in the middle. Most of the pictures were artist renditions of what the battles would have looked like during the invasion, but there were a few pictures of leftover weapons and armor from that time era. There was even an image showing how the borders had changed due to the Mongols' occupation of China.

Right before she started reading, she chanced a quick glance around the room. Most everyone was waiting patiently for her to start, and looked like they might actually be somewhat interested in seeing what the shy, quiet girl that nobody talked to had to say. Even the teacher gave her a thumbs up. But not everyone was all that interested.

On of the guys that sat in the third row from the front was staring at her with the same scowl as the guy in her first period class. Elsa did her best to ignore it, but she couldn't help but hesitate for just a brief moment before presenting her report. It was bothering her more than it should, and some of her confidence was instantly sapped. She forged on anyway, and quickly forgot all about the guy for the five minutes she was giving her report. When she finished up, the teacher clapped and thanked her before calling the next person up.

Once she was back in her seat, she let out a big sigh before slumping forward in her seat. Her head nearly hit the desk, but she quickly righted herself so she could at least be somewhat respectful to the next person to give their presentation. But she couldn't shake the look on that guy's face. He sat in the row in front of hers, and she didn't even know his name. She was bad about that. Most of the time, she spent little time getting to know the other students unless she was forced to for a project. But she had no idea why he was looking at her like that. She hadn't done anything to him as far as she was aware.

By the time class was over and it was time for lunch, Elsa was ready for the day to be over. Most of the other reports, while not bad, weren't very interesting. The few that were interesting were too short in her opinion, or were lacking visual aids. She expected more from the students in the AP program. Not that she thought she was better than other kids. It was just that more was typically expected of them.

As she gathered her things and headed out the door, the guy that was scowling at her was standing in the doorway talking to someone else that Elsa couldn't see. She waited patiently for several moments for him to move, but he didn't budge.

"Um, excuse me, can I get past please?" she asked quietly. No response. Finally, she tapped on his shoulder to get his attention, and was about to ask him politely to move one more time before he snapped at her.

"What the hell do you want, bitch?" he growled.

Elsa was taken aback by this. She had no idea what she had done, and she was admittedly a little frightened by his outburst.

"I-I just wanted to get by," Elsa said timidly.

"Yeah, I bet you did. Don't think I don't remember what the hell you did to him," the guy said.

"I don't know what you're-"

"Yes you do. Don't play stupid. It's all your fault, too. You're lucky you're still alive."

"I-"

"Is something wrong, Jacob?" The teacher had sneaked up on them, and didn't look too pleased.

"No sir, nothing at all," the boy said.

"Then why don't you get out of the way and let Elsa through? Go to lunch."

The moment he moved for her to pass, Elsa bolted down the hall towards the lunch room. On the way, she couldn't help but think that the guy seemed very familiar. She didn't know where from, or what the hell he was talking about, but she was sure she had run into him before. The whole thing made her a few minutes late for lunch, but she wasn't too worried. There was still plenty of time to sit and eat and hang out with her friends. When she walked through the doors into the lunch room, she saw Rose just standing there staring, looking somewhat mortified.

Elsa looked at her, a little confused, and wondered what was going on with her friend. "Um, hi Rose. Is everything alright?" When Rose didn't answer, Elsa waved her hands in front of her friend's face, trying desperately to get her attention. "Hello? Rose?"

Whatever she did seemed to work, as Rose blinked several times before shaking her head. "Y-yeah, sorry. What's up?"

"Well, you're standing in the door to the lunch room looking like a deer about to get hit by a big truck. What happened?"

"Oh. Um. It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

"Why don't I believe you?"

"I don't know. Come on, let's go eat."

They wound their way through the cafeteria towards their table at the back end of the room, but had to pass by several tables filled to the brim with other students. There was, of course, the popular kids. But thankfully Elsa and her friends didn't even register on their radar, so they were left alone. But there was one table that sent chills down her spine instantly. Sitting at it, with a bunch of other guys, was Jacob and the other boy from her first period class. They were both sitting and chatting with half a dozen other people. For some reason, some of them seemed really familiar. But that's when she heard it.

"The dumb bitch had it coming," a voice said.

This stopped Elsa dead in her tracks, and her eyes went wide. Quickly she turned her head towards the table of guys, and instantly saw the source of the voice, as it was staring right back at her. It was enough for Rose to notice and stop to look at her. Seconds later, she began to hyperventilate, and stumbled forward into a table where a couple girls were sitting chatting. Elsa barely managed to catch herself, and both the girls looked at her shocked.

She was gasping for air, and her chest was getting tighter. Her heart kicked into overdrive and was going to beat itself right out of her chest. Her vision began to fade, and she started to slip to her knees. There were voices all around her, but none of them were making any sort of sense. Then suddenly, she was in motion, being dragged off into oblivion.

00000

That restroom door rattled as it slammed against the wall, letting Rose drag Elsa in behind her. The blonde was still panicking, coughing and spluttering. Not knowing entirely what to do, the first thing that came to mind was for Rose to turn on one of the sinks and splash cold water in Elsa's face. After several seconds of it proving not to be effective, Rose did the next thing that came to mind, and slapped Elsa right across the face.

That didn't seem to accomplish much more than for the blonde to fall flat on her ass and to throw her arms up in self-defense. The moment that happened, Rose felt incredibly guilty. Then she chose to kneel down beside her friend, do her best to draw her into a very awkward hug, and rock back and forth with her.

"Come on, blondie. Take deep breaths and relax. You freaking out is not doing anyone any good," she told her friend.

It seemed to help, because slowly Elsa's breathing evened out, and she eventually started acting lucid again. But tears soon started to well up in her eyes, and she clutched Rose's shirt and buried her face in it and sobbed. The artist had no idea what to do.

"Jesus, Elsa, what the hell? Why are you so upset?"

"It's him!" Elsa cried into her chest.

"Him who?" Rose asked, confused.

"The guy that attacked me! He was there, Rose!"

"What!? Where!?"

"In the cafeteria! Please, I don't want to go back!"

Rose was still rocking her back and forth, and did her best to shush her friend. "It's alright. You're not going back right now. But where was he? How do you know it was him?"

Sniffling, Elsa calmed herself with more deep breaths before answering. "I heard the voice. Then I saw him. He was sitting there with those other guys. We walked right by them where I stopped. He was the big, bulky guy. Looks like a quarterback."

"Those assholes? How do you know him?"

"He was one of Jeremy's friends. They used to hang out all the time and talk about sports and stuff."

"I'll kick his ass. Twice. Once for hurting you, and once for being friends with that arrogant, misogynistic prick," Rose threatened.

"What are we going to do?" Elsa asked, scared.

Rose was quiet for a moment, not really sure what to say. She didn't have a plan other than to whoop the guy's ass, and she was sure that was something that Elsa wouldn't condone. At least, she didn't think so. Her friend was terrified of the guy, and for good reason. After what he had done to Elsa, Rose didn't blame her for being scared to death. But now they knew the identity of her attacker. They could use that to get to Jeremy. She just wasn't sure how yet.

"I'll tell you what we're going to do," Rose finally said. "We're going to tell the others. Point out this prick to them, and then formulate a strategy to get even."

"Rose, we can't-"

"Elsa, we are done letting that asshole push you around. You could have died. Then what? What do you think we would have done then? And what if he does it to someone else. Is that what you want? Letting these dickheads walk around thinking they can rape and beat women with no repercussions?"

"Well, no, but-"

"Then we have to fight fire with fire. We are going to send a message to Jeremy loud and clear. Obviously legal action doesn't mean shit to him. So now, we have to take matters into our own hands. The days of being scared are over, babe. We are going to put an end to this bullshit once and for all."

"But how?" Elsa asked.

"You'll just have to wait and see."


	43. Chapter 43 - No Quarter

**A/N: So, I know it's Saturday and not Friday. I apologize. I've been very busy still, plus having a hard time with life since the move. Between losing my job, the move, losing my medical coverage and thus withdrawing on all my meds(yeah, I had to take antidepressants, which I have decided to just flush from my system...which apparently takes weeks), and trying to decide what I'm going to to do next with my life, things have been a little crazy.**

 **So, for the first time in a very long time in my life, I'm in a very unique position. My dad is currently offering to help me out financially should I choose to go back to school and try and get started in a real career. Considering I absolutely loathed my job at Boeing before, and hadn't been happy in over 9 years, he wants me to consider something new. So, I've narrowed it down to between 2 things: either becoming a registered nurse or a pharmacist. Neither will be easy to achieve, but both speak to me far more than what I was doing before. Building airplanes honestly is not a fulfilling or rewarding career. I want to give my life purpose and meaning.**

 **With that said, I can't guarantee that things will remain as on schedule as they have been since this story started. They're going to get a little stressed, and I don't know how long I'll be able to keep it up. It's just the way life has to go for now. I'm really sorry to all of you.**

 **Oh, and this is a bit premature, but I don't mind. I've got 2 stories on my profile that are currently on hold because of various, reasons, but I have a new story that I slowly started developing with the help of a friend. It sort of borrows themes and ideas from other fantasy settings, and is more of a dark fantasy tale. If you are at all familiar with Warhammer, there are similarities there. I don't plan on releasing much in the way of info just yet, as it's still very early in the writing process. But it will focus on Elsa and Anna as these angel-like beings from another realm of existence. There will be no other Frozen characters: no Kristoff, Sven, Olaf, Hans, etc. Purely Elsa and Anna as sisters. There were will be some very similarities to their canon selves, but what that is I'm going to keep under wraps for right now.**

 **I don't know when I'll post the prologue, if it will be anytime soon. I will be uploading it possibly by the end of the year though. It kind of just depends on what happens. Anyway, enjoy this week's installment.**

 **Chapter 43**

 _No Quarter_

The rest of the day went by in a haze for Elsa. There felt like a real disconnection between her and everything around her, and had been that way since her breakdown at lunch. Her stomach was balled up and nauseous, her heart was still beating heavily, her chest felt like it was on fire, and she was incredibly paranoid. It was so bad that she continuously kept looking over her shoulders every few minutes, not knowing if another one of Jeremy's friends were in one of her classes or not. The worst part were the faces. She could still see the scowls, and the conversation with Jacob replayed itself over and over like a broken record in her mind.

By the time 2:15 pm rolled around, Elsa's anxiety was beginning to act up again. She just couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched, and it was giving her the shakes. Surprisingly, her breathing managed to remain calm, at least mostly. It wasn't ragged or heavy. Not like it had been. But none of this stopped her from practically running from her web design class to the car in record time. If it wasn't for the fact that she had to wait for her boyfriend, she would have been on the road before most of the other students were even out of the building.

Counting down the seconds, she started bouncing her foot up and down, shaking her entire leg. Micah couldn't get there fast enough. Every few seconds she would shoot a quick glance at the doors to the gymnasium, wondering where the hell he could have possibly been. When he did at last come walking out, he just slowly strolled towards the car as if there was no hurry to be anywhere else. This caused Elsa to groan impatiently, and before he was even halfway there she had the engine started and the windows rolled down.

Moments later he was climbing into the passenger seat and grinned at her as he gave her a cheery hello. "Hey babe. Where were you at lunch? We waited for you to show up."

"Oh, um, well, I got busy with something. Sorry," Elsa said nervously. It wasn't exactly a lie, but it wasn't exactly the truth either. She didn't know what to call it.

"Ah. Well that's alright. Hopefully you got things taken care of."

"Yeah. Sure. Let's get the hell out of here."

It took every ounce of willpower for her not to floor the gas pedal and escape the parking lot at break neck speed. By the time they were on the road, her foot started to get a little heavy and they were going a bit faster than they should have. The speed limit was much slower in a school zone than what they were doing, and she knew it. When Micah looked at her with concern on his face, Elsa did her best to play it cool. She knew full well that it wasn't working though.

"Um, any reason we're speeding through here so fast? You're gonna get pulled over," Micah asked.

"Oh, I didn't realize I was going fast. Sorry. Um, I guess I'm just in a hurry to get home."

"Why? Do you have something going on that I don't know about?"

"What? No! I just want to get home as fast as possible. That's all," Elsa said nervously.

"And what is wrong with the speed limit?"

"It's not fast enough?"

"Right. Well, we aren't going to be stuck behind any buses, and rush hour isn't for another forty-five minutes. So I don't see what the rush is about-"

"I just want to get home, alright? Why do I need a reason to do that?" Elsa asked. She was starting to get slightly irritated.

Micah looked over at her for a moment before answering. He had a questioning look on his face, and didn't seem to be buying into what Elsa was saying. "I suppose you don't need one. But this isn't like you. What the hell is going on?"

"Nothing is going on, Micah! Now drop it!" Elsa yelled.

As they came to a stop at a red light, Micah rounded on her and got very defensive. He wasn't used to her acting this way. "What the hell, Elsa? What has gotten into you? You are acting like I did something wrong, and you being pissy for no reason is starting to get on my nerves. Now, why don't you tell me what the hell is going on with you before this blows up into a big fight?"

Tapping her foot impatiently, Elsa refused to look at him or answer his questions. She knew that she was being completely irrational and unfair, but she couldn't bring herself to tell him why. At least not yet. There was a lot of thinking that needed to be done, and her conversation with Rose was still at the back of her mind. She was simply afraid of what it meant.

They were silent the rest of the ride home. Micah had given up on getting her to talk, and Elsa was too focused on getting to the house in one piece before completely losing her mind. If she had had any idea that this was going to happen to her, she never would have wanted to find out who it was that attacked her. Part of her was wishing she had never remembered his voice at all. The mystery of who did it would have been preferable to the torment she was putting herself through right then.

Before she could say a word, Micah climbed out and slammed the car door shut before storming off towards the house. Elsa just sat there and sighed, and was reprimanding herself for handling the whole thing so poorly. She had never meant to piss him off or to act like a bitch towards him. But the damage had been done, and now it was time for her to make things right. But knowing Micah, he was going to be in a bad mood for a few hours, and she fully admitted that she deserved it. If there was one thing she was certain of, it was that she handled stress very poorly. Unfortunately, that usually meant taking it out on the people she cared most about. Whether it was shutting them out, lying to them, or just simply hiding things, she had been doing it for far too long. Micah deserved better, and she knew that.

Slowly, Elsa trudged her way up the stairs to the house, and then inside to her bedroom. When she entered, she found Micah sitting at the desk working on some assignment from one of his classes. It looked like it was his math work, which he was still struggling in. Not as much as he used to since he had Rose to help him out, but still enough to where Elsa was still tutoring him whenever he needed it.

Seeing that he was already busying himself, something he had a tendency to do when he was pissed, Elsa decided to just toss her bag in the corner then head to the kitchen to find something to eat. Her stomach was still a mess, but she knew she was starving and had to eat. Luckily there was a wondrous slice of life-giving pepperoni pizza still sitting there just waiting to be nabbed and consumed. So, in one swift motion, she swiped the last piece and already had it on a plate before microwaving it. Once it was cooked enough to burn the roof of her mouth, Elsa grabbed a Pepsi from the fridge and made her way back to the bedroom.

Outside they could hear the telltale rumbling of Kristoff's truck pulling up to the house. Then they could hear the front door swing open and slam shut as Kristoff and Anna stomped up the stairs before stopping just outside Elsa's room to say hello. Micah didn't bother to look up from his homework, and Elsa was caught mid-bite as she was munching on her food.

"Why hello there you two," Kristoff said with a grin. "We missed you at lunch, Els. Did you get caught up in one of your classes again?"

"Um, you could say that," she said around a mouthful of pizza. Normally she wouldn't have done that, but she was starving and didn't feel like stopping to talk.

"Do you guys want to go out and get something to eat in a bit? We were thinking Johnny Rocket's," Anna asked.

"No, you guys go ahead," Micah replied, not even bothering to look up from his homework.

"You sure bro? I mean, I'll pay if that's the issue," Kristoff told him.

"I just don't feel like it. Take Elsa. I'm sure she'd like to do something other than spend time with me or have a civil conversation."

"Whoa. Okay, well, um, wow. Is there something going on that we need to discuss?"

"Nope."

"Micah, you are being incredibly unfair right now," Elsa said, appalled at his comment.

"Yeah, well, you should have thought of that before you decided to be a royal bitch for no reason." He still hadn't looked up from his homework. "I'm not in the mood to put up with this shit."

Elsa knew she deserved it, but it still stung. He never talked that way to her. There was only one thing she could do to make things right, but whether or not it would be enough was the question. She had to at least try.

"Can you guys give us a minute? Please?" Elsa asked.

"Yeah, sure. We'll be next door if you guys change your mind," Kristoff said as he slowly closed the door.

Once they were alone, Elsa got up and crept over towards Micah. He was still busy doing his math work, and she didn't really want to bother him while he was doing it, but things really needed to be taken care of.

"Look, Micah, I'm really sorr-"

"Save it, Elsa," Micah said curtly. "Nothing you can say will justify how you acted. I'm really not interested in making up right now."

This instantly deflated Elsa, and she almost gave up. But she knew she couldn't. "Micah, please? You need to know what happened today."

Setting his pencil down, Micah sighed and spun the computer chair around so he could look at her. "Fine. What happened?"

"Okay. Well, um, you know how I told you that I'd remember the voice of the guy that beat the hell out of me?"

"Yeah."

"I, uh, ran into him today at school."

This made Micah blink several times before giving her a very confused look. "What."

"It was in the lunch room. He was sitting with a bunch of Jeremy's friends. I mean, I walked right by their table and he looked straight at me when he was talking. I don't remember exactly what he said, but it doesn't matter. It was _his_ voice," Elsa insisted.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. It made me have a panic attack. Rose had to drag me to the bathroom to calm me down. It was embarrassing."

"Okay, so why didn't you tell me this earlier? You know, instead of flipping out on me?" Micah asked with an accusatory tone to his voice.

Elsa began to pace and shrugged. "I don't really know. I was scared, I guess."

"Scared of what? Of me?"

"Scared of the reality of things. I mean, I'm scared of what this means. Now that I know who it is that did it, that means you guys are all going to want to know who it is so you can do something about it. I don't want to see any of you do something that will get you in trouble."

"Wait. You're the one that has said several times that you have no problem with me kicking Jeremy's ass. We finally find out it was one of his buddies that beat the living shit out of you, and you're suddenly worried about what's going to happen to us?"

"Yes."

Before their conversation could continue, the doorbell suddenly rang, grabbing their attention. Nobody ever used it, and they rarely ever had visitors. In fact, Elsa couldn't remember the last time the doorbell was even used. After a second ring, she decided to head to the front door to see who could possibly be at their door. When she got there and looked through the peephole, she was surprised to see Harley and Rose standing there.

As soon as she had opened the door, Rose was pushing her way inside and up the stairs, barely saying more than a casual "hey" in Elsa's general direction. Harley sighed and shook her head before Elsa ushered her in.

"I'm sorry about her, Elsa. We've been fighting, and she's not in the best of moods. Neither am I, to be honest. But it's not your fault, so please don't take anything personally," Harley explained.

"It's fine. It seems like everyone is fighting today. Let's head upstairs."

"Rose told me what happened," Harley said as they made their way down the hall back to Elsa's room. When they got there, everyone else was already waiting.

"Alright, so what the hell is going on?" Anna asked the moment the door was closed.

"Elsa identified her attacker," Rose said.

"Oh really? Why didn't you tell us this, Els?" Kristoff asked, arms folded in front of him.

"I don't know," Elsa admitted. "Like I was telling Micah, I was scared. But I have no idea why. I know it makes no sense."

"Elsa, this is a big deal. A very big deal," Anna told her. "Who is it?"

"One of Jeremy's friends. I don't remember his name, but I remember they used to hang out a lot. He's a really big guy though. He's nearly as big as Kristoff."

"Hey, we ran into Jeremy at the mall right before Rose's birthday. Had a nice little chat with him. I might have laid him out on the ground because he pissed me off. But he was there with some dude. Big, but not big enough to intimidate me," Kristoff said with a grin. "Maybe it's the same guy?"

"Possibly. Jeremy liked to surround himself with people he could easily manipulate. Just look at what he did to me," Elsa said sadly. "He's not strong enough to fight someone on his own. He'd have someone with him that would do the fighting for him."

"But he had no issue with hitting you whenever he wanted," Micah said. "Why was he okay with doing that himself?"

"Probably because he wanted to prove to her that he was in charge," Rose answered. "That's what that kind of behavior is about. It's rage and power. He wanted to control her and the situation. She was weak – no offense Els – and he could overpower her. But he's too much of a chickenshit to face any one of us. Especially you guys."

"Okay, so what are we gonna do?"

"I say we have a nice chat with the dude. Find out why he decided he needed to beat the crap out of Elsa," Kristoff said.

"Okay, I'm game."

"Wait you guys. This is a bad idea," Elsa said nervously. "I mean, if you do something, what's stopping him from going to the police?"

"Who said we were gonna to do something to him? We just want to talk with him," Kristoff replied.

"You guys are going to want to make sure that word gets back to Jeremy though," Harley added. "I think intimidating this guy, and sending a direct message to him should be enough. Then, when he retaliates – and he probably will, considering his track record – we strike. Or, even better, we take the fight to him when he least expects it."

"Damn, I didn't think you were the vengeful type," Rose admitted. "I'm impressed."

"There's still a lot you don't know about me, babe," Harley said with a wink.

"Are you guys sure this is even necessary?" Elsa asked, still rather nervous and unsure with the whole thing.

"Yes, Elsa, it is," Anna told her adamantly. "We are all fed up with watching you be Jeremy's punching bag. So, we're taking the fight to him. Personally, I say we beat him so badly that he'll never lay a finger on another living soul ever again."

"Works for me," Kristoff said happily.

"Yeah, me too," Micah admitted.

"Okay, so that settles it," Rose said. "We'll confront this guy and make sure word gets back to Jeremy that we're gunning for him. But we won't tell him when or where. It'll be a surprise. That's the best way to get the son of a bitch. Just pop out of the shadows and beat him within an inch of his life. He'll be too worried looking over his shoulder that it'll be even more effective when it happens."

"Maybe we should rough up his friend a little too," Harley added. "We don't want the bastard to think he can just beat a woman half to death and get away with it."

"This is why I love you."

"Oh, so you can say it here but not anywhere else?" Harley said coolly.

"Can we not do this here?" Rose asked.

"Fine."

The others looked back and forth between the two girls, all perplexed by the sudden exchange.

"Is there something you guys would like to talk about?" Anna asked.

"Nope."

"No."

"Okay... Well, whatever the issue is, you guys need to talk it out and get over it. We don't need anyone fighting right now. We've got too much to worry about for us to suddenly start getting divided," the redhead said.

"Alright, anyway, tomorrow you're pointing this guy out to us," Micah finally said, breaking the awkward tension.

"Do I have to?" Elsa whined.

"Yes!" the group said in unison.

It didn't look like Elsa was going to get out of doing what needed to be done.

00000

It wasn't for a couple more hours before Rose and Harley left. When they said their goodbyes, they made their way to Rose's car and climbed in. Neither said a word, and the silence was incredibly thick. And awkward, Rose thought.

It wasn't that she was refusing to talk. She was just scared of being the one to initiate the conversation, mostly because she didn't want her girlfriend flipping out on her. So, as they slowly made their way back up to Harley's place, Rose glanced over at her every chance she got. The blonde was staring out the window, arms crossed and clearly not in the mood to talk. It was certainly not the ideal situation.

"So..." Rose began in a vain attempt to break the silence. "Do you feel like getting something to eat?"

No response.

"We could go meet up with the others somewhere. Kristoff and Anna wanted to do Johnny Rocket's out at the mall."

Still no response.

"Wait, that wouldn't work. I don't think they offer any vegetarian burgers. We could do IHOP though. Their food is always good."

Pure silence.

This made Rose sigh. She was getting frustrated, but she wanted to keep her cool so she didn't make the situation worse. But she really needed Harley to talk to her. They had gone all day and only said a few words to one another. It was completely unlike them.

"Look," Rose began, "I know I royally screwed up. I know I have been weird about the whole relationship thing. I'm sorry. I've never been with someone before, and even though I was able to give Elsa all sorts of advice, I'm shit at following it myself. Plus, I'm scared. I'm scared of what other people will say and do. You know this. No, it's no excuse for me being so distant and uncomfortable with you. It's no excuse for me to neglect you and not tell you I love you. But it's the reality of things. I'm honestly terrified. I've never been scared of anything in my entire life, Harley. But I'm scared of this."

It was Harley's turn to sigh, and she seemed to be letting her guard down some. She was still staring out the window, but at least she was willing to speak. "Why though, Rose? Why did you bother getting into a relationship with me if you're so scared? I know you have feelings for me, you've told me so. But I like hearing it too. I like being told that you think I'm pretty, that you love me and can't live without me. I might only be sixteen, but I know what love is and what I want. People dismiss us because we're teenagers and don't know what we're doing. But this is more than just a fling for me. I love you, and I want to make this work. But I can't be the only one putting in the effort."

"I know. Believe me I know. But is school really the best place for us to do that? You saw the note I got. Somebody knows about me, and there is a very good chance they know about you too."

"You're the one that wanted to hold my hand and stuff at school! That was what you wanted! Why did you say that if you didn't mean it?" Harley asked, getting angry again.

"I did mean it! But I didn't think about it before I said it! It was before the reality of things had really set in! I'm sorry, Harley! I screwed up. I never should have said that."

"No, you shouldn't have."

"So now what? Where do we go from here?" Rose asked, afraid of the answer.

"I don't know. I guess that's up to you. If you feel like being an actual girlfriend to me instead of just someone I make out with, then you need to do what it takes to keep this from falling apart. Because right now, after the last couple months, I'm fed up with you not being affectionate towards me at all. If you want me to be your girlfriend, you need to be willing to tell the world, not just our friends. We can't live in fear forever."

"But-"

"But what, Rose? Huh!? If you actually gave a shit, there would be no 'but'! You would do the right thing and show me that you love me! Because right now, this is _not_ the Rose I fell in love with!"

"What do you want me to do when I'm getting threats from people at school!? What if it turns serious!? Then what!?"

"Then we deal with it!" Harley shouted.

"How!?"

"I don't know!"

Then they grew quiet. Neither knew what the next step was, and that was what scared Rose the most. They were now out in front of Harley's house, and they were just sitting there staring at one another. Tears were starting to drip down Harley's cheeks, ruining her eyeliner and mascara.

"What are we going to do?" Rose asked, much quieter than she had before.

"It doesn't matter," Harley said bitterly.

"It does too matter. What if you start getting harassed? Do you think I want to see that happen?"

"What the hell did you think was going to happen when we got together, Rose? I told you from the very beginning that we were going to deal with people that hated people like us. I warned you that we would run into this stuff. We still live in a very intolerant society. Did you think this was going to be easy?"

"No-"

"Then I don't understand what your so god damn afraid of. Are you afraid of your feelings for me? Are you ashamed of being bisexual? Are you embarrassed to be seen with me?"

"No!"

"Then what the hell, Rose?"

"I can't stand the idea of seeing you get hurt, okay!?"

"Right now, the only one hurting me is you."

Without saying another word, Harley let herself out of the car and slammed the door shut before walking very quickly to her front door. She didn't even bother to look back at Rose as she went inside, leaving the artist there to wallow in her own misery.


	44. Chapter 44 - The Message

**A/N: One thing I've noticed about this story compared to my previous stories. I use author's notes a lot. I never used to. I used to shun them basically. I felt they were a tool too easily abused, and could ruin things. But lately, they've been invaluable to me for communicating all the unexpected bullshit that has been coming my way, or that involved the story. So I dunno.**

 **I've mentioned it a few other times, but I'm sort of stuck on the story right now. Basically, I don't know what to do with the group after the Jeremy arc is over, even though Anna has her own thing going on, and Rose and Harley are sort of dealing with things. It just doesn't feel like much headway is being made.**

 **So what does this mean for the story? Well, at the moment, nothing. I don't plan on slowing down releases, unless you guys think it would be better that I do that. I can't decide. I just don't really know where to take the story next for the immediate future. I have a few things I want to see happen, but I'm really struggling with a couple ideas right now that could potentially make great story material. The problem is that setting it up and making it even remotely believable is proving to be extremely difficult.**

 **One thing that I really wanted to start exploring more is Micah's jealousy. It's been there throughout the story, especially during the early stages of the first Jeremy arc. Well, I want to address it again, but this time in a much less controlled environment. But I've also been trying to wait until college starts for them to get into that territory. So what do I do in the meantime? I wish I knew.**

 **Not this week's, but next week's chapter, will be written quite a bit differently than previous chapters. I'm not going to spoil anything, but it is very different. Just to give you a hint, it's mostly in the first-person perspective. Should give quite a bit of interesting insight into the inner workings of the story's primary female lead. Might let you see inside her in a way we haven't really explored yet. Depending on the feedback and reaction I get, there might be more chapters like it in the future.**

 **Anyway, this chapter has one thing that I know has been sorely missing from the story, and I have slowly tried to rectify more of since I first acknowledged it: sisterly bonding. There just hasn't been much in the way of Elsa and Anna quality time. Sure, they hang out together as a group more often than not, but there really isn't a lot of Elsa/Anna interaction. From here on out, there will be more. I promise.**

 **Chapter 44**

 _The Message_

That evening, Elsa was sitting at her desk, laptop open, and was looking at an adult toy website. It was the first time since their weekend getaway that she had even been remotely interested in anything like that, but she had a few ideas that she wanted to look into. She kept glancing over her shoulder every few minutes to make sure nobody walked into her room and caught her red handed, and felt extremely paranoid. It wasn't often that she had time to herself. Moments like this were precious to her.

Micah had gone over to Kristoff's to work on their car. They had finally started working on the engine, removing rust and replacing just about everything that they could. It was going to run them at least a few thousand dollars to rebuild the whole engine block, but it was a pet project of theirs. They even came up with a name for the car. Suzy. It was Kristoff's dad's idea, and the boys just went along with it.

As she was browsing the site, looking mostly at the lingerie section, there was a knock at her door. When she looked over to see who it was, Anna was standing in the doorway with a very puzzled look on her face. Quickly Elsa slammed her laptop shut and started blushing, and scowled at her sister.

"Anna, you can't just come waltzing in here like that!" Elsa said, panicky.

"Geez, sorry. Your door is wide open. What were you looking at that you're all embarrassed about?" Anna asked.

"Nothing! Nothing. It was nothing. Don't worry about it."

"Yeah, I don't believe you. But whatever," Anna said as she strode across the room to sit on the edge of the bed.

"Can I help you?" Elsa asked, a bit annoyed at her sister's insistence of being in her room uninvited.

"Relax, I'm just bored. Finished my homework over an hour ago, and since the guys are gone, I've got nothing to do."

"Yeah, I kind of am too."

"Are you ready for tomorrow?" Anna asked as she picked up Elsa's little dragon and fidgeted with it.

Elsa shook her head adamantly. "No, not at all. I'm not looking forward to what's going to happen. I'm scared that the guys are going to get into trouble, and it'll be my fault."

"Elsa, you can't think of it that way. Micah and Kristoff want to put an end to this. We all do. So everyone is volunteering to do this. You're not forcing us in any way."

"But I still feel guilty."

"Well, don't. You have nothing to be guilty of."

With a sigh, Elsa turned back around to her laptop, opened it back up, and quickly closed the window to the website she was looking at earlier. Then she just sort of stared at the screen and hung her head.

"I'm afraid of facing him again," she admitted.

"Who? The guy that beat you up?" Anna asked.

"Him too. But I meant Jeremy. You guys were right, all of you. Jeremy had something to do this. Knowing him, he put his friend up to it. I highly doubt the guy acted on his own."

"Well, just know you won't be alone in this. And you don't even have to deal with Jeremy. Let us handle that. You just hang back and stay safe."

"Yeah, maybe you're right."

"I know I am."

They fell silent for a few minutes, both lost in thought. Elsa couldn't handle the idea of dealing with Jeremy or his friends again. On top of that, she knew something bad was going to happen. She was sure of it. It was eating away at her, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't shake that horrible feeling in her gut.

After a bit, Anna flopped backwards onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling, arms spread out like wings. She was kicking her feet back and forth as they dangled from the bed, and she let out a breath she had been holding. She was utterly bored.

"Hey, Els?" Anna eventually said, breaking the silence.

"Yeah?"

"I never thanked you for what you did, you know, when we were little."

"Thanked me for what?" Elsa asked, puzzled.

"For protecting me from dad. I know what he did to you was horrible, but you kept him from hurting me too. I just wish you had told someone much sooner."

"It's okay, Anna, really. You don't need to thank me, even though you are welcome. I couldn't stand the thought of him hurting you too."

"Do you think he's still in prison?"

"I hope so."

"What if he died while there? I read that pedophiles tend to get beat up in prison a lot. Sometimes they're killed. Like that Jared Fogle guy. You know, from the Subway commercials. I heard he got the shit kicked out of him."

"If dad died, I wouldn't care. I might even celebrate. That's how much I hate him," Elsa stated, a slight amount of anger in her voice.

"Yeah, I can understand. You know, at first, I was mad at you," Anna admitted. "I thought you broke our family up."

Elsa didn't say anything. She looked down at her lap and toyed with her braid. When she did finally speak, it sounded very reserved. "I never meant to, Anna. I'm so sorry that I did."

"Elsa, don't be," Anna said as she sat back up. "I was little when that happened. I don't think that way anymore. I understand what happened much better now. Mom does too."

"Please," Elsa scoffed. "Mom still doesn't get how bad it was. She still doesn't know the full story, and probably never will. She's been completely clueless for years."

"She would know if you just told her."

"What good would that do? She didn't give a damn when it happened. All the signs were right in front of her, and she did nothing. I was crying out for her to help me, and what did she do? Buried her head in the sand and pretended everything was alright. Why do you think I grew so distant with her? I love mom, I really do, but we will never have the kind of relationship we did when I was little."

"Believe it or not, Elsa, mom does care. She's told me many times that she wishes you would speak to her more. Open up and be her daughter again. Hell, I've overheard her on the phone with Jenny several times in tears because of it. I think maybe you should think about it. What happened is in the past. There's no undoing it, but you have to get past it somehow. Give mom another chance. She misses you a great deal."

"I don't know if I can," Elsa said.

"You have to try. It's not going to happen if you don't put forth the effort."

"I'll tell you what. I'll think about it. It's not that I don't speak to her or care. I do. It's just that it's hard to let her back in like I used to. I haven't been close with her since fifth grade. That's a long time of resentment. That doesn't just go away."

"I know," Anna said. "Maybe you should go shopping with her. Take her out to dinner or something. Maybe just the three of us? We haven't done anything together as a family in ages. If the boys want to go with us, I suppose that'd be okay too. But we have to start somewhere."

"Speaking of the boys, how are things with you and Kristoff?" Elsa asked, changing the subject. She wasn't too comfortable talking about her parents anymore.

Sighing, Anna shrugged, picking the little stuffed dragon back up and staring at him. "I dunno. Fine, I guess? I mean, they're not bad, but things have kind of gotten stale."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I kind of want to push forward with the relationship, but he's been very resistant to it. Like, when we kiss it's just a light peck on the lips. I want a real kiss. But he won't do it. We only sometimes hold hands. Every now and then he'll talk to me like I'm not old enough to understand things, and it's kind of insulting. Like the other day, for example. We were talking about what would happen once I'm done with high school. We've had this talk before, but never seriously. This was a serious talk. He basically told me that I don't need to worry about that right now, because I'm too young to think about those things and should just focus on making it through high school. That I need to think about what I want to do for college. But he says these things in such a way that it feels like he thinks I'm stupid."

"Have you talked to him about this?"

"No, I don't know how. I'm afraid it would just start a huge fight."

"Are you sure it would? Kristoff is a pretty reasonable person," Elsa reminded her.

"No, I'm not sure. I don't know what to do. How would you handle it?" Anna asked.

"Honestly? I don't know. I guess sit down with him and just tell him what's bothering me. That usually works with Micah, and Kristoff should be the same way."

"Okay, I guess I can try. God, I'm nervous."

"Don't be. It's not like Kristoff will get upset. He's a really understanding guy."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right," Anna said. "Are you hungry? I know I am."

"Actually, yeah. Want to go get something to eat?" Elsa asked.

"Sure," Anna said with a smile.

00000

The next day was kind of a blur. Elsa woke up feeling sick to her stomach, but not because she was ill. The anxiety was eating away at her, and it was stressing her out horribly. She skipped breakfast before they left, commenting that she wasn't really hungry. In truth, her stomach was a ball of nerves, and there was no way she'd be able to keep anything down for long. It sort of bummed her out, because that meant missing out on her morning cup of coffee. Micah felt pity for her.

When it was time to leave, Elsa tossed Micah the keys to the car and crawled into the passenger seat as fast as humanly possible. Her breathing was shallow and she could barely sit still the entire way to school. Every now and then, he'd look over at her and see that she was squirming, shaking her leg and tapping her fingers on the handle to the door. All telltale signs that she most certainly was not alright.

"You gonna be alright, Els?" he finally asked as they pulled into the school parking lot.

Elsa tried to give him a confident smile, but wavered and then seemed incredibly unsure. "Um, I don't really know. I hope so."

"Did you take your meds last night?"

"Yes. Just before bed."

"I thought they were supposed to help with this stuff," Micah said.

"Sometimes they do. It's not a complete fail-safe," she told him.

"Alright, well, just try and take it easy. We have until lunch. That's if he's even here today."

"But I still have to deal with his friends that are in my classes."

"Ignore them."

"...Alright. I'll try."

Once they were parked, Micah took Elsa's hand in his and led her inside. He knew that she'd calm down a bit as long as she had physical contact with him. Why that worked was beyond him. As they approached the lunch room, they could see Rose sitting alone at their table. Harley, Kristoff, and Anna were nowhere to be seen. It was unusual. Kristoff and Anna were almost always there before them, and Rose was usually there with Harley just a few minutes before the bell rang.

"Hey, where are the others?" Micah asked as they sat down at the table.

"Harley is getting dropped off by her mom. I dunno where the other two are," Rose said.

"Why is Harley riding with her mom? Normally you pick her up."

"Oh, um, she just is. Don't worry about it."

"So you guys are fighting," Micah said.

"Shut up."

"I know it's none of our business, Rose, but is there anything we can do to help?" Elsa asked, trying to keep her stomach in check.

"Not unless you can make me not a complete moron," Rose said bitterly.

"I don't understand. What happened?"

Sighing, Rose leaned forward onto the table and just stared. "Basically, I'm incapable of being affectionate or doing anything romantic in our relationship. Harley's frustrated with it, because she wants me to display to the whole world that we're together. This is even after the talk we had about us getting singled out for being, well, you know."

"Okay. Well, why aren't you showing more affection?" Elsa asked, concerned.

"Because I don't know how, and I'm scared as hell of what might happen if I do. I didn't want anyone here to know about us. But I found out yesterday that somebody _does_ know. Ask Micah, he was there when I got the note. I don't even know who slipped it onto my desk."

"Wait. A note? What note?"

"It was a note that basically outed her," Micah informed her. "Whoever wrote it wasn't very nice about it."

"And when I showed it to Harley, she got even more upset because I was being a coward about it," Rose said. "I don't know what to do. I've never been in this situation before. What if it gets worse?"

"Well, do you still have the note?" Elsa asked.

"Yeah. It's in my bag."

"Take it to your teacher. Or the principal. There's supposed to be a zero tolerance policy here. If someone is targeting you, they _have_ to do something about it."

"Maybe. I guess I'll talk to Mrs. Hornbeck and see what she says. I doubt she'll do anything though. She's not very fond of me and Micah."

"Yeah, she thinks we talk too much," Micah said with a grin.

"You probably do," Elsa said as she rolled her eyes at him. "But seriously Rose, you need to go to someone about it. Don't let this blow up into something bigger."

"Yeah, I will," Rose assured her. "Don't forget about lunch though, blondie. You're pointing that son of a bitch out to us."

"You don't have to remind me. My stomach is already doing a good job of that."

After a bit of more mindless talking, the morning bell rang. One by one the students exited the lunch room and poured out into the halls, and went their separate ways. Micah walked with Rose down towards the south end of the building and up the stairs to where their first period math class was. While they were walking, he kept glancing over at her and could see how uneasy she was about everything. There was fear in her eyes, and she looked horribly uncomfortable. When she finally noticed what he was doing, she didn't say a word. Instead, she just hung her head and slowly walked into class.

Setting her bag down on the top of her desk, Rose dug out the note from the day before and nervously approached Mrs. Hornbeck's desk. The teacher was busy on the computer with something, but when she noticed that Rose was standing there, she turned around to face her. It was immediately apparent that something was wrong.

"Ms. Arlette, what can I do for you?" Mrs. Hornbeck asked. She sounded concerned right away, as Rose never came to her for anything.

"Um, do you have a moment? I really need to talk to you about something," Rose said nervously.

"Shall we talk here or in the hall?"

"Uh, I think the hall might be better."

Mrs. Hornbeck led the way, and as the last of the students cleared the hall, she turned to Rose and put on a much friendlier face. "Okay, so what seems to be the matter?"

"Well, you see, yesterday someone slipped this note onto my desk, and it is kind of, well, hurtful and scary." Without looking her teacher in the eyes, Rose handed the note to her and hung her head, feeling ashamed for some reason.

As soon as she read it, Mrs. Hornbeck's mouth twisted into a frown. "Rose, this is not okay. Why didn't you come to me yesterday?"

"Because you don't like me. You've made it very clear since day one."

"That is not true, I want you to know that. I do not dislike you at all. You are smart, and have a very focused personality. But you talk too much during class with Micah. I should separate you two."

"Please don't! He's one of the only friends I have."

"We will discuss that later. But right now, I'm more concerned with this," Mrs. Hornbeck said, indicating the note. "This is not okay at all. Who gave this to you?"

"I don't know. They put it there without me knowing. I don't even know who could possibly know."

"Well, your sexual orientation is no one's business. And hating you for it is not only wrong, but against the school district's policy. I will address the class and remind them of this. If this happens again, we will be going straight to the principal."

Without saying another word, they headed back inside the room and went to their respective desks. The other students were all busy chatting away, and when Rose sat down Micah gave her a questioning look. All she did was shake her head as she sat down and began digging through her backpack for her math assignment. Then she heard the telltale cough of her teacher at the front of the classroom.

"Everyone, I'd like your attention," Mrs. Hornbeck began. When no one responded, she got louder and more forceful. "Excuse me! I need your attention up here! You two, in the back. Up here. Thank you.

"Now, it has come to my attention that certain individuals in this class are making hateful comments towards others. I shouldn't have to remind you that this school and the district have a zero tolerance policy against bullying and hate crimes. Singling someone out for their sexual orientation, race, creed, or religion is simply unacceptable and will be dealt with. You should all be old enough to understand this, and to be more mature than that. If I find out that these things are continuing from here on out, Principal Mohr _will_ be involved. Am I understood?"

As soon as she was satisfied with the class' responses, the day's lesson began. Rose's face was flushed red, and she was highly uncomfortable. Odds were the person that had sent her the note knew that she had gone to the teacher. But she wasn't sure if that was going to make a difference or not. For all she knew, she just aggravated the situation even further. She hoped that wasn't the case, but deep down, she knew that things were going to become much worse for her. She could feel it in her gut.

The moment class was over, Rose was busying herself with getting her bag in order so she could head to her next class. But when she stood up to leave, she was suddenly knocked back down forcefully by one of the other girls in class as she walked by. Rose was practically knocked over entirely, and if Micah hadn't still been there, she would have hit the floor.

"What the hell was that about?" Micah asked as he helped his friend up.

"I don't know. But that girl sits in the back of the room. She's late almost every day, and usually comes in right after me," Rose told him. "Sometimes at the same time."

"Do you think maybe she's the one that left the note?"

"I have no clue," she said as they headed out into the hall. "I mean, I suppose it could be. But I don't know how she would know."

"Well, the only way she could have found out is if you or Harley told her. None of us have said a word to anyone."

"I know. Don't worry loverboy. I'll get to the bottom of this. You just go take care of that bastard for me."

"Yeah. See you at lunch," Micah said, walking off in the opposite direction.

With a heavy sigh, Rose turned to head to her next class. She had no idea what was going on, or why it was happening to her, but she hoped to get to the bottom of it. Hopefully, it would be sooner rather than later.

00000

At lunch, the gang was huddled around their usual table discussing their next move. Once Elsa pointed out the culprit to them, the guys were going to find a way to corner him so they could talk to him. It wasn't exactly determined what was going to be said, but the general idea was that they wanted to make it very clear that Jeremy needed to be very careful going forward. Micah and Kristoff also decided that they'd rough the guy up a bit. Elsa wasn't happy with this idea at all, and said as much. But Rose and Harley agreed that it needed to be done.

The moment the guy sat down with the rest of his friends, Elsa told the others what they wanted to know. She had managed to remember the guy's name, which was Marcus Mayhew. He was apparently rejected from the football team during tryouts because he had a bad knee, which was very useful information to have. When they asked how she knew all that, Elsa told them that Jeremy made sure she knew about this stuff when it came to his friends. Especially when it came to sports related things. She also remembered he liked to drink, and wasn't all that bright, at least not in comparison to the rest of Jeremy's friends.

The rest of the day dragged on, and Kristoff was getting slightly impatient. In fact, they all were. But he seriously wanted to hurt the guy, and was even more frustrated that they couldn't while on school property. It was going to be excruciating having to hold back just because of that. If he hadn't made the promise to Elsa or Anna that he'd behave as much as he could while doing this, he would fully unload on the guy. He had no issues with it either. He'd even be willing to hold him down so Micah could get in a few good swings.

With the sound of the final bell for the day letting the students out of class, Kristoff grabbed his bag and hurried down towards the gym to meet up with Micah. They had decided at lunch that they would follow Marcus to his car and confront him there. It was made even easier when Elsa told them what kind of car he drove. Like Jeremy he had a Ford Mustang, but it was a slightly older model. She wasn't sure on the year, but she knew it was from the early 2000's. That was good enough for them. It was unfortunate when she didn't know the license plate number, but they really didn't expect her to. It was more like wishful thinking than anything.

As soon as Micah showed up, they headed out to the parking lot and began looking for the guy. He apparently liked to hang out for a bit after school, so they were likely going to be waiting for a bit. To their luck, though, they saw him standing with a group of his friends near the end of the building that headed out to the track and football turf. When they saw the puff of smoke come out of the middle of the circle, Micah gagged.

"Ugh, smokers. My dad was a smoker. I hated it," he said with disgust.

"Yeah, but you hated him. So really, it's no different," Kristoff told him.

They sat and watched the group for nearly twenty minutes before they dispersed, and the moment Marcus was alone and headed towards his car, Kristoff and Micah were on him.

"Marcus, old buddy!" Kristoff said cheerfully as he threw his arm across Marcus' shoulders as if they were long time friends. "How the hell are ya?"

"Hey, you're that punk from the mall that decked Jeremy," Marcus replied. "What the hell do you want?"

"Oh, nothing really. Just to talk, that's all."

"Yeah, we just wanted to see how you were doing. You know, check to see if you've beaten any defenseless girls into a bloody pulp and sent them to the hospital recently," Micah added.

If it wasn't for the misstep as they were walking, Marcus would have come off as completely ignorant to what they were talking about. But he did misstep, and as soon as he caught himself, they knew he knew.

"What are you two talking about?" he asked nervously.

"Cut the bullshit, Marcus. You know full well what we're talking about," Micah said angrily. "You're the one that beat the living piss out of my girlfriend, and now, we want to have a little chat."

"I did no such thing."

"Yes you did. Elsa told us as much," Kristoff told him. "The thing about that girl is not only is she incredibly smart, she has a photographic memory. She pinned you as soon as she saw you. It's amazing how the memory can recover after a concussion with just the right trigger."

"You guys have it wrong-"

They had stopped just feet from Marcus' car, and luckily the parking lot was still relatively full. It was easier for them to hide amongst the cars. "We do, do we? Well, why don't you explain it to us so we can get it right?"

"Look, the whole thing was a misunderstanding. An accident," Marcus said, getting more and more nervous and shifty.

"An accident? You accidentally beat up my girlfriend? How god damn stupid are you?" Micah asked, nearly spitting at him.

"We're going to give you one chance, just one, to tell us what the hell happened before we beat the shit out of you and leave you here. So you better make it count," Kristoff threatened, his voice getting more demanding.

Marcus didn't answer right away, and when he chose to remain silent, Micah sucker punched him right in the kidney, making the guy nearly double over in pain. "Talk you son of a bitch!"

"Guys, wait!" Marcus cried as he clutched his side.

"Wait for what? Answer or I'll stomp on your balls until they burst!" Micah demanded angrily.

When he chose to remain silent again, Micah went for his bad knee, planting a foot square on the joint as hard as he could. There was a audible pop, and Marcus dropped to the ground in agony, screaming. Micah was fuming.

"I think you had better talk, pal, or my friend here is going to really do a number on you," Kristoff warned him.

"Jesus Christ! You dislocated my knee you prick!" Marcus shouted.

"I'll do more than that if you don't talk!" Micah said, ready to kick his leg again.

"It was Jeremy, okay! He told me to do it!"

"Why!?"

"He said the bitch deserved it for what she did! He even paid me! He told me what to tell her and everything!"

Micah was visibly shaking with rage, and it was obvious he was trying to restrain himself. Kristoff couldn't blame him though. Marcus was acting like it was no big deal, and he didn't seem to fully grasp the situation he was in. It was kind of sad, really.

Quickly, Kristoff looked around to make sure nobody was around. Surprisingly, they were completely alone. Then he remembered there was a basketball game going on, so that's where most everyone probably was.

"Okay, we have a little message for Jeremy that you are going to relay to him. Understood?" Kristoff asked.

"Go to hell!" Marcus shouted.

"Wrong answer!" Micah shouted back.

Pressing his foot down on the dislocated knee, Micah was practically putting all his weight into it. Marcus started screaming, and Kristoff had to ease him back off before someone overheard.

"Okay!"

"Good boy. You tell him that we're coming after his sorry ass. You tell him that he better start watching his back, because we will strike without him ever knowing when. We know where he lives. We're going to watch him like a hawk. Every time he leaves his house, we could be there in a heartbeat. You tell him that he better be scared for his life, because that is exactly what is on the line," Kristoff threatened.

"He messed with the wrong girl, and now, he's going to pay the price," Micah added.

As they walked away, they could hear him struggling to get into his car. This nearly made Micah laugh. It felt great to finally come face to face with the people that hurt Elsa so much, and it felt even better to know that he could finally do something about it. The rush he was feeling was one of the greatest highs he's ever had, and it was just going to be that much sweeter once they dealt with Jeremy. Micah could hardly wait.


	45. Chapter 45 - Little Blue Book

**A/N: So, this chapter is something that a lot of you have been wanting for some time. It gives a lot of insight into Elsa's past, especially events that were seemingly overlooked or just passed by without much thought. While I had always intended for a lot of that stuff to be discussed in more detail, this entire chapter is actually the brainchild of a couple of my most devoted readers.**

 **This chapter is NOT a traditional chapter at all. As you will see in just a minute, it is made up almost entirely of Elsa's diary entries. So the whole feel and style is in the first person, something I normally don't do. Needless to say, it was fun writing it and trying a different style for a change. It is also one of my favorite chapters. Hopefully it'll pay off.**

 **With that said, I am going to have to put a couple trigger warnings here. There is some content coming that I feel can be touchy for a lot of people. I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but at the same time I want you to read onward very cautiously. I doubt it'll actually bother anyone, but you never know. I go into detail of incident, and don't try to sugar coat it at all. If it makes you slightly uncomfortable to read it, then I guess I did my job.**

 **I've said it a couple times already, but we are getting VERY close to the end of a major story arc. No, the story itself isn't close to done, but I am at a position where I'm probably going to take a little break from writing and let the story sit for a bit untouched. I'm feeling burned out, I've got major writer's block, and I've been going strong for a very long time with this story. There is a chance I might pick back up with a few of the other stories I started that have been on hiatus, but it all just kind of depends. Just know that I will be taking a break soon here. But I'll be sure to actually remind you all again before I just suddenly disappear.**

 **Anyway, I hope you guys like this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. It was a lot of fun, and I think it filled in some gaps nicely. Depending on its reception, I am considering including more chapters like it in the future.**

 **Chapter 45**

 _Little Blue Book_

 _March 4_ _th_ _, 2013_

 _I had to see him again today. It was awful. He was in that orange jumpsuit, and he looked angry. I was scared he'd break free and come after me. But mom was there with me, and there were a few cops there as well. Dad's hands and feet were chained up. Yet, I still felt unsafe. After remembering all those things he did to me, I was afraid he'd do it again._

 _After a lot of complicated talking, I was asked to talk for the first time since the whole thing started. Mom was right there beside me, doing her best to make me feel comfortable. It didn't work though. It hadn't in a very long time. Anyway, the lawyers started asking me questions, and I was nervous the whole time. I was afraid I'd say something wrong or stupid, or that they wouldn't believe me and let dad go. I even had trouble understanding some of their questions. Thankfully they were patient with me, and nice. Well, our lawyer was. Dad's lawyer was kind of mean to me. I don't know why._

 _I don't know how long it took, but they asked a lot of questions. How old was I when it started. When did I first realize what he was doing was wrong. What he liked to do to me. The questions were all over the place. Some were worse than others. I ended up crying through most of it, all because they made me think about all that horrible stuff. I told them that I wanted to just forget it ever happened, but they said I had to do it._

 _When it was lunch time, mom said we only had an hour to find somewhere to eat before we had to be back. The courthouse is in Seattle, and it's big and confusing. We ended up going to a Wendy's that was just down the road, and we had to eat extremely fast. It upset my stomach. But I already didn't feel very good anyway. The crying didn't help, and I had this funny feeling in my belly that wouldn't go away. I think it's called anxiety. It made my stomach feel all twisted into knots. I told mom about it, but she didn't say much. She just gave me a hug and told me that I was super brave. I didn't feel very brave though._

 _Once we got back, I had to talk some more. Then they asked me to tell them all about the day mom found us in my bedroom. They wanted to know everything. It was embarrassing. I had to tell them where he touched me, how he touched me, how it felt, what I did when he touched me like that. All sorts of stuff. I hated it. I just want this all to be over with, because I never want to see him again._

 _While I was talking, I could see that he would look over at me and just glare. I could see the hatred in his eyes. He had always told me that I wasn't allowed to tell anyone what had happened, otherwise things would get worse. That was the look he gave me. That things would have been a lot worse if he weren't handcuffed._

 _I thought I messed up a few things, because dad's lawyer said a few things about me being unreliable and not telling the whole story. That I was making things up. It scared me when he said that. I thought they were going to let dad go, and that he'd come back and hurt me again. But then they brought in this lady that said she was a therapist for kids, and she started talking to me about all the stuff that happened. She was really nice. I don't know who's side she was on though._

 _When they were done questioning me, they let us go home. It was a long day, and I'm exhausted. The nightmares are going to come again, and they might be worse than ever. Our lawyer said that he would let us know when and if we had to go back. Mom looked sad after we left, like she couldn't handle everything going on. I can't help but feel that it's my fault. I feel like everything is my fault._

 _Micah came over as soon as we got home, and he gave me the biggest hug ever. He told me how sorry he was that I had to go through all this, and that no matter what he would be there for me to talk to him. He's too sweet, and way too good to me. I don't deserve him as a friend. But I am so thankful that I have him in my life. If only I could tell him how I feel. I want to so badly. I want to tell him that I love him more than anything. But I can't. I'm too much of a coward. Besides, it wouldn't do any good. He doesn't feel that way about me, and probably never will. We're best friends. There's just no way it will ever happen._

 _He went home just about an hour ago. He said to call him if I need anything. I might call him in a bit, because I doubt I'll be able to sleep. Even though I'm completely worn out, I won't be able to shut my eyes. I'll see dad if I do, and I don't want to see him ever again. I'd rather die first._

 _I just wish Micah was here. I need him to hold me and tell me everything will be alright._

Elsa stared at the page, holding her breath as she read. It always had an effect on her when she read back over her old diary entries, especially when they were about her father. It would send a chill up and down her spine, and would awaken the images she still had burned into her mind of all the things that he had done. She wasn't even sure why she was reading it again. It was just something she did every now and then. Perhaps it was so she could face her demons, or a way to cope with her past. There was something about it she couldn't explain, and though she truly hated it, it was at the same time addicting. It was like she _had_ to read it again and again.

When she glanced over at Micah, she saw that he was still huddled over his laptop with a root beer and half-eaten slice of pizza sitting on the desk next to him. She could see the condensation from the soda can slither down the side and onto the desktop, forming a ring at the base. It annoyed her that he wasn't using a coaster, because she really didn't want any water damage to her only desk. She'd had it for years, and it was still in prime condition.

But instead of saying anything, she simply frowned and returned her attention to her little blue book. Flipping through the pages, she chose to read a few entries from her freshman year. That was when her diary saw the most use. Back when her feelings were the most confused.

 _August 23_ _rd_ _, 2013_

 _The nightmares came again tonight. This time, he chased me through the woods to a lake, and when I got to the water's edge, all these hands shot up at me and tried to drag me down. As I struggled, they began to rip at my clothes until I was lying there naked and scared. Then he burst out of the trees and laughed. It was a horrible sound, and it sounded as if we were in an echo chamber. It was all around me, invading my head until it was all I could hear._

 _That's when he walked up to me, dragged me to my feet by my hair, and started to smell me. I didn't look at him. I couldn't. I was too terrified to do anything, because I knew what would come next. That's when he started to touch me, and my skin began to crawl. I shivered. His hands felt like sandpaper, and I could smell the alcohol on his breath. It was that cheap beer he liked so much. The refrigerator was always stocked with it. Mom hated it, but she never said or did anything about it. The worst thing was, he would reek of it when he came to my room whenever he wanted to turn me into his plaything._

 _Before it could go much further, my phone rang, startling me awake. When I answered, I could hear it was Rose on the other end. She asked me what I was doing, and I told her I was trying to sleep. But when I looked at my alarm clock, it said it was only 11 pm. She asked me what the hell I was doing in bed that early in the middle of summer, and I didn't have a good answer. That was when I broke down and cried._

 _I told her about the dream. I told her about what he did, and how it felt so real. I told her everything. After I finished talking, the phone was silent for a minute. Eventually Rose told me that I need to tell Dr. Cohen about these nightmares. I have been, but I rarely tell her what they're about. I just tell her that they're about "him". Usually when she asks more questions, I get silent and tell her I don't remember anything. I know lying is wrong, but I don't want to remember them, so I try to pretend nothing happened. I don't know how much longer I can keep that up though._

 _Then the subject of Micah came up. Rose asked me if I had made up my mind yet. The truth is, I don't know. On the one hand, I love him dearly. He means everything to me. Whenever I think about him, I can feel my heart rate pick up, and I start to feel warm all over. I even imagine what it would be like to hold his hand as we go for a walk, or hug and kiss. I imagine his lips on mine, and the thought does things to me that I can't explain. I crave his touch so much. Just the thought of his hands on me, with that skin to skin contact, makes me feel heated in certain areas that I never thought could feel so...wanting. I think that's the feeling I get. I want him all over. Then, for some reason, I think about making love to him. I'm only fourteen! I shouldn't be having these thoughts yet! But, my first period came when I was twelve, and that scared me. My mom said I was becoming a woman, and that I had hit puberty. She said I'd start thinking about things like boys. At first, I didn't believe her. Now I wish I had._

 _Anyway, on the other hand, we are great friends. We have been since kindergarten. We've always just done everything together. I don't even know why. It just feels so natural and right. But I can't let my feelings get in the way. Rose wants me to tell Micah how I feel. She's adamant about it. She says the whole Kyle thing was a mistake, and that I should take the initiative and say something. Then she says that I can't wait around for Micah, and that if he doesn't open his eyes and see me the way I see him, then I need to move on and find someone else. The thing is, I don't know if I want to. Dating isn't really something that I want to get back into. It wasn't fun before, and I don't see that changing in the future. Unless it's with Micah._

 _I'm going to call Micah in a minute. He's the only one that can help me when I have my nightmares. Maybe he'll be able to soothe me back to sleep._

This always made Elsa smile. Whenever she read about the good things Micah did for her, it brightened her mood. She knew she was insanely lucky to have him in her life, and now that they were together, it made all that pain and suffering that they had gone through so worth it.

For whatever reason, she chose to continue reading. It was strange, though, going back over what had happened years ago. Seeing how much things had changed in such a short period of time. It reminded her of who she was, and what she had become.

 _November 16_ _th_ _, 2013_

 _Jeremy took me out again today. He took me to this place that sold high end dresses, and told me to try a few on that he picked out. At first I told him I really didn't want to, but he insisted. Eventually I caved and just did it so he'd stop begging me. I don't know why he was so adamant about it, or why he wants me to wear these ugly dresses. I don't look good in them, and they never feel comfortable._

 _After about five-hundred dollars worth of dresses were bought, he took me out to this expensive restaurant on the far side of town. He made me wear one of the outfits that he bought, and I couldn't help but constantly adjust the thing and feel incredibly awkward in it. The shoes he bought me hurt my feet, and I nearly tripped every time I walked. I have decided that I hate high heels._

 _After dinner, his dad took us back to his place. As soon as we were inside, I ran to the bathroom and ripped off the dress and heels before throwing my regular clothes back on. When I came out of the bathroom, Jeremy looked very disappointed. Then he grabbed me by my hand and led me upstairs to his bedroom. When he closed the door, he looked at me and shook his head, then said that he didn't understand why I was so against wearing the dress. When I told him it wasn't comfortable, he got visibly upset for just a brief moment before calming down. Then he motioned for me to sit down on his bed with him._

 _As soon as I sat down, his hand was immediately on my thigh, rubbing up and down. Then he pushed my hair out of the way before kissing me on the neck. It felt weird, and I shivered as he did it, but I think he thought I was liking it because he kept doing it. Honestly, I hated it. It didn't feel good, and it just made me feel gross, like I was suddenly really filthy. The worst part was his kisses were really wet, making my neck feel slimy._

 _Eventually I had had enough, and I tried to push him off, but for some reason he persisted and just kept kissing me until he got to my lips. I tried to tell him to stop, but every time I opened my mouth to say something, he would press his lips against mine really hard, making it difficult to say anything. I found it disgusting, and it made me gag a little. Plus I didn't like the smell of his breath._

 _It was a while before he stopped and realized I wasn't getting into it. He asked me what was wrong, but I didn't have the heart to tell him that I couldn't stand what he was doing to me. Instead, I told him I had to go home, and he had his dad give me a ride home. On the way, I could feel his dad's eyes on me, and I wasn't sure what he was thinking. It sort of creeped me out._

 _When I finally got home, Anna was immediately in my bedroom asking me how things went. I told her they went fine and that I had a good time, but I know she didn't believe me. I'm not a very good liar, and I don't like doing that to begin with. But this one time, I didn't want anyone to know just how awful the whole thing was. It's not like I hate Jeremy; I don't. But I don't like what he was doing to me. I just have no idea how to tell him that without hurting his feelings._

 _Anyway, now that the day is over with, I'm going to go take a shower and scrub away everything he touched and soiled. I feel unclean, and I won't sleep well feeling this way. Not that I ever do. Maybe I'll give Micah a call before bed._

She remembered it all. The way it made her feel as he pressed his lips against her, the warmth of his hands on her hips, and the drunken look of lust in his dark eyes. Then she shuddered. Just thinking about it was sickening. To think that she let him do the things that he did to her all because she thought she was supposed to. It was truly the stuff of nightmares.

 _April 26_ _th_ _, 2014_

 _Jeremy finally decided to stop being an ass to me and apologized for what had happened. He was really sweet about it too. He bought me flowers, and took me out to dinner at my favorite restaurant. I didn't even have to dress up. Then he said he loved me and that he was doing it all for me. I was still a little hurt by what had happened, but he did a good job at making me feel better._

 _Then, after we ate, we went driving for a little bit. The sky was perfectly clear, and it was a full moon. Maybe that would explain what happened next. We were at the edge of town, and Jeremy decided we should go back up to that spot above the lake. I wasn't really fond of the idea, considering what happened the last time, but he was really sincere about how sorry he was. Besides, I did like it there, in spite of what had happened._

 _When we got there, I was instantly captivated for the second time. The moonlight was sparkling on the water, and the stars twinkling in the velvety blackness of the night sky. It was kind of romantic. That's when he turned to me and said that I was beautiful. I don't know why, but that made me incredibly happy to hear him say that. Then he got out of the car and motioned for me to follow._

 _As soon as I was out of the car, he grabbed me and pressed me up against the door and started kissing me. At first I tried to protest, but then I remembered how nice he had been and how good the evening was. So, I decided to give in. At one point, the kissing became really intense, and he slipped his tongue into my mouth. I don't know why, but I didn't gag like the last time. In fact, this time I kissed him back. Then his hands began to wander, and it alarmed me for a brief moment before I just gave in and let him do whatever he wanted._

 _That's when he slipped his hand up underneath my shirt and bra and started groping my chest. His hands were so rough, and it didn't feel particularly good, but at that moment I didn't really care. I was in a good mood, so I thought I'd show my appreciation by letting him have what he really wanted. I mean, it's what a good girlfriend does, right? I think so, at least. I'm not very good at this, and I'm not a very good girlfriend. But I did at least try._

 _After a little bit, he pulled my shirt up over my head and tossed it into the car, then he unhooked my bra and did the same with that. But then he started to rush, and went straight for my pants. He unbuckled my belt, then undid my pants before sliding them down. I did my best to kick them off, then I broke our kiss and took off my panties. I noticed immediately how chilly it was, but for some reason it didn't bother me. That's when he opened the door to the backseat and kind of shoved me in before pulling his pants down as well._

 _And there we were, completely naked in front of each other. I was horribly nervous and embarrassed, but he didn't seem to care. In fact, he was overly confident. Then he said something about how he was so big that he didn't think I could take all of him, but when I looked at his penis, it didn't look remarkable or large really. I'm still not sure what he was bragging about, because honestly, it looked normal to me. At least, what I imagine a normal penis would look like. I don't make it a habit to go looking at those things, nor would I know where to look if I wanted to. I suppose other girls might be into that sort of thing, such as Rose, but I honestly never had the desire. They just don't appeal to me. Besides, my mother would kill me if she ever found out I was looking at that stuff. Hell, she's probably going to kill me for what I did tonight. If she finds out, that is. I made extra sure to straighten up before coming home._

 _Before we did anything, I made absolutely sure that he had a condom. I refused to let him do anything to me until I saw him put the thing on. I may be a lot of things, but I'm not stupid. I'm not going to be a mother at the age of fifteen. After he was ready to go, I let him in. At first he was really gentle, and made sure to take it nice and slow. But then there was immense pain in my crotch. The more he pushed, the more it hurt. I wanted to yelp, but I gritted my teeth and dealt with it. Then I reached down to make sure everything was going alright, and when I brought my hand back up, there was blood. That's when I started to panic, and Jeremy saw that it was scaring me. He tried telling me it was okay, that it was normal and supposed to happen. But he didn't understand how much it hurt. Just him going inside of me made this burning sensation._

 _I tried to stop, and I even started to sit back up, but then he pushed me back down and told me to stop being so scared. Then he pushed in, and that's when I actually did cry out. I had tears in my eyes, and I gripped the edge of the seat with my hand and nearly tore the material with my nails. He still had his hand on my chest forcing me down, and was trying to thrust in and out, but was having trouble. If I remember what I learned in our sex ed class back in sixth and seventh grade, the female is supposed to be lubricated to make the process easier. I'm pretty sure I was completely dry except for the blood. At least there wasn't much of him to go inside, because I don't think I could handle more than the four or so inches that were there. I just know he had difficulty getting in, even with my legs spread wide for him. I really am not sure what he was so proud of. It didn't help that he kept mumbling things about how amazing he was._

 _Luckily, it was over after a couple minutes. I was still crying, and my makeup was a complete disaster. But it was over. I was utterly relieved. Quickly I gathered my clothes and got dressed while he disposed of the condom. I have no idea what he did with it, and I don't really care. He seemed to be in a really good mood, and I think that's a good thing. When we got in the car, he asked me if I enjoyed it as much as he did, and I simply said yes. I didn't want to hurt his feelings. I didn't want to tell him he didn't have this massive penis like he claimed; it really was unimpressive now that I think about it. Thank God it wasn't very big, because I doubt I could have handled that. I also didn't want to tell him that it hurt like hell, and wasn't enjoyable in the least. If I can be totally honest, I really don't want to ever experience that again._

 _It was quiet the rest of the way home. He didn't even bother looking at me the whole time. For some reason, he was humming to himself, and was drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. He was happy, and for that I am grateful. Then we pulled up to the curb outside the house._

 _He thanked me for what we had done, and said I was one of the better ones he's had. Just that I need to get into it more. When I told him good night, he grabbed me by the wrist and kissed me. That's when I made the mistake of pulling away. I wasn't in the mood to kiss. I really didn't want to. Unfortunately, I knew I shouldn't have done that, because I knew it would piss him off. And it did. He growled at me, then quickly backhanded me across the face. The force he hit me with made me cry out, and my eyes filled with tears for the second time tonight. But then I felt something trickling down my lips and chin, and that's when I realized he gave me a bloody nose._

 _I grabbed my purse, called him a bastard, and ran up to the house as fast as I could. I had to fumble with my keys, but I managed to unlock the door fast enough. When I looked back to check if he was coming after me, I saw that the car was gone. Then I stumbled inside and ran up the stairs to the bathroom._

 _That's when I made the third mistake of the night. I forgot to close the bathroom door. It was only a few moments after that Anna came out of her room to check on me. I was still whimpering and blubbering like a baby, and I had a bloodied tissue in my hand when she walked in. She immediately asked me what had happened, and I ignored her. Then she asked me if Jeremy had hit me again, and when I didn't say anything, I'm pretty sure that gave her her answer. But instead of scowling or yelling at me, she came up and gave me a hug, and told me that she loved me and was scared for me. I hugged her back and started crying again._

 _That was an hour ago. I've managed to calm down now. I cleaned off my makeup, got the bleeding to stop, and had to clean up down below to make sure that that wasn't bleeding anymore either. It still burns and aches, and it's made sitting down awfully painful. I then had to go to the restroom, and peeing hurt like hell._

 _I've decided that sex isn't worth the trouble and pain. I know he's going to be upset with me, but I really don't think I'll ever do it again. I didn't really have the desire to tonight, and I don't see myself wanting it in the future either. I am pretty sure I can live the rest of my life happily without ever doing it again._

 _I'm really scared of what will happen if Micah ever finds out about this. He already hates Jeremy, as do the others. He will probably get mad at me for letting this happen. But it's none of his business really. But that isn't fair to him either. I love him, and I swore to Rose that I'd tell him. I'm working on that. It's not as easy as it sounds. I don't have the courage that she does. I'm so afraid that I'll have waited too long that he won't want me anymore. I don't know what to do. Maybe I'll tell him once he's out of the hospital. Why can't things ever be as easy as they are in the movies?_

The moment Elsa was finished reading, she noticed that Micah was no longer at the computer. He must have left at some point while she was engrossed in her diary. Curious, she set her book down on the nightstand and crawled out of bed before wandering down the hall to see if she could find him. Then she saw the light on in the kitchen, and she was fairly certain it was him.

Poking her head inside, her assumption was instantly confirmed. Micah was standing at the oven, oven mitt on and baking sheet in hand. When he looked at her, he grinned and nodded towards the tray in his hand.

"Pizza?" he asked, placing the tray down on the stove top.

"Yes, please," she replied.

"You done reading your book?"

"For now. You disappeared on me."

"Oh, sorry. I actually asked if you were hungry. You never answered, so I said to hell with it and made a pizza."

"That's okay," Elsa said. "Do you remember when you first found out about what Jeremy was doing to me?"

"Yeah, why?" Micah asked.

"How did it make you feel?"

"How did it make me feel? It pissed me the hell off. I wanted to stomp his face into the curb. He deserves it, too. He never should have laid a finger on you."

For some reason, hearing him say that made Elsa smile. Sometimes, she loved his overprotective nature. It proved to her how much he cared. Though there were times it bothered her, she would never say anything. It simply was never enough of an issue to really bring it up.

"Why didn't you ever do anything?" Elsa asked, curious.

"Well, because I promised you that I'd give you space and not be your bodyguard anymore. You wanted to be able to live your life without me running interference. But trust me, as soon as I found out, I wanted to kick his ass from here to Kingdom Come," Micah told her.

"I know. I'm so sorry I never told you. I was so scared of what you would do if I did. But at the time, I was trying to convince myself that I did love him. I mean, I was with him for almost a year. I seriously thought that I was supposed to have feelings for him, and at one point, I think I did. But they weren't real. They were a lie that I had convinced myself to believe."

Micah leaned back against the counter, crossed his arms, and frowned. "Well, I don't understand why you felt that way. The guy hurt you all the time. He belittled you and hit you. How could you possibly love that?"

"I don't really know," Elsa said with a shrug. "I had a lot of issues for a long time. I seriously believed that I didn't deserve any better. That there was no such thing as better."

"Well, I hope to God that you know that that isn't true now."

"I do. It took a lot of willpower to get to this point," Elsa said. "I was so afraid of him, Micah. For a long time I didn't want to hurt his feelings, thinking that he actually gave a shit about me. When I finally realized he didn't care, I thought it was too late. You and I weren't speaking, and it hurt. Then when I left him, I had to have help. Otherwise, I wouldn't have had the strength to do it. That's how terrified I was. He had me believing these horrible, nasty things about myself. That I was the reason he was always angry, and that it was my fault that he would hit me. If I had just done what he wanted me to do, then he wouldn't have to do the things he did to me. If it wasn't for Kristoff and Rose, I'd still be with him. That's how scared I was."

While they were talking, Micah removed the pizza from the baking sheet and set it on a cutting board before slicing it up. Then he grabbed a couple plates from the cupboard, served them up a couple slices each, and handed Elsa a plate. She smiled at him and took the plate from his hands hungrily. For some reason, she hadn't realized just how much of an appetite she actually had.

Then they headed back to the bedroom, turning off the kitchen light as they went. Elsa had made sure to grab a couple drinks from the fridge, and passed one off to Micah as they made themselves comfortable on the edge of her bed. For a few moments, they ate in relative silence. There was a light breeze outside, and every now and then it would blow in through the opening in the window and cause the curtain to flail about.

"So where is all this coming from?" Micah asked, breaking the silence.

"It's just thoughts I had after reading through my diary," Elsa told him. "I was kind of going over stuff that I wrote back in ninth grade. Reminiscing I suppose. I had forgotten a lot of it, mostly because I wanted to just forget. But I specifically wrote it down so I wouldn't forget it."

"Well, I hope you're alright. I know how difficult a lot of that stuff is for you. I don't want to see you break down again. I don't think I could handle it."

"I'm really okay, I promise. But I do regret all of it. Especially when I found out about Amber. I wanted to be so angry with you for dating her. I know how much of a hypocrite that would have made me, but at the time, I didn't care. I thought you were being completely unfair to me. I was just about ready to tell you how I felt, and then she showed up and ruined everything. Then we weren't speaking to each other, and that broke my heart."

"Can I tell you something if you promise not to get upset?" Micah asked nervously.

"Of course."

"I actually started dating Amber so I could make you jealous and get back at you for dating Jeremy," he admitted. "I mean, I think I might have had feelings for her at first, but she wasn't exactly very smart and was rather selfish. You saw how she was though. Then when the rumors about her cheating on me started up, I was in complete denial. I don't even know why, because deep down I knew it was true. I tried salvaging what relationship we did have so I wouldn't have to be alone, mostly because I didn't think you'd ever like me the way I liked you. But yeah, I used Amber to get back at you."

"It hurt a lot, Micah. What I couldn't understand is why you refused to talk to me for so long. You said you were angry with me because of Jeremy. But I don't see why that would cause you to stop speaking to me for almost a year," Elsa said.

"Like I said before, I wanted to be angry with you. I wanted you to feel how I felt since you had met him. It was like a stab in the heart when you started dating Jeremy. It crushed me. Then when we weren't speaking, I was trying so hard to make you feel what I felt. I still wanted to talk to you and be friends, but I was too hurt."

"Can you ever forgive me?"

"Baby, I already have. You know that. This isn't the first time we've talked about all this. As long as you can forgive me for what I did, I can forgive you."

With that, Micah grabbed their plates and took them to the kitchen so they could be placed in the dishwasher, then hopped back on the computer to continue doing whatever it was he was in the middle of doing before. Letting out a sigh, Elsa climbed back into bed and grabbed her diary off the nightstand. She flipped through the pages until she was back to where she had left off, and found the entry she was scared of most.

 _June 15_ _th_ _, 2014_

 _I'm not sure why I'm writing this down, because right now I am in so much physical and emotional pain that I should have been hospitalized. But it's too late to worry about that now. Now, I'm sitting here alone in my room with no one to talk to. Micah still isn't speaking to me, and I have no idea if we will ever be friends again. The thought of losing him forever is tearing me apart. That would be worse than what happened yesterday._

 _It was early in the evening, and we were driving across town. Jeremy was angry at me for telling him that I hated the dress he tried making me wear, and that I didn't want to go to his friend's house so he could watch some baseball game and leave me to mingle with the other girls, none of which were intelligent. All they do is gossip and spread rumors. I hate it. But Jeremy expects me to be friends with these girls and to be just like them. He hates the fact that I have a mind of my own, and that I have opinions on things. But I don't share any of that very much because I know it upsets him. But now, I don't give a shit. Screw him and his expectations._

 _Anyway, we were arguing about the whole thing when he decided that what we needed was to go to our spot and make up. I wasn't in the mood, and told him several times to take me home, but he refused. He told me to stop acting like such a rotten child and to just do as he said. When we got there. He parked the car in the usual spot and got out, and told me to do the same. I didn't think to argue, since I didn't think he would do anything more than try to make things up with me._

 _He told me he was sorry for getting angry at me, and wanted me to know that he loved me very much. I didn't really believe him, since he had said that so many times after getting angry with me that I lost all trust and faith in him. But I'm still a forgiving person mostly, and I chose to give him another chance. So when I got out of the car, he pulled me into a hug and told me how sorry he was. Then he started kissing me, and I wasn't in the mood at all. I tried to make it very clear to him that I just wanted to leave and go home, but he just held onto me tighter and kissed me more forcefully. Then I tried pushing him off and yelled at him._

 _That's when I suddenly found myself in serious pain. Normally when he hit me, it was with the palm of his hand across my face. Sometimes I'd get a bloody nose, sometimes he would hit me with a balled up fist and punch me in the eye or something. But this time he punched me right in the jaw with all his strength. It was jarring, and it whipped my head backwards, and as I was knocked over, I hit my head on the side mirror of his car, which I think I broke. I know there is a gouge on the back of my head now. All I know for sure is it dazed me for several seconds, taking me completely by surprise._

 _Then he was on top of me and started trying to take off my pants. As soon as I realized what he was doing, I was kicking and scream and hitting him with as much force as I could. Unfortunately, he's much stronger than I am, and he easily overpowered me. It didn't take him long to rip off my pants and underwear before doing the one thing I feared most. He was so angry and forceful that I could feel the inside of me feel like it was ripping and tearing. He was acting like an animal, and I chose to give in and let him do what he was doing so I could get it over and done with. It hurt like hell. There was blood, I could feel the inside of me on fire, there was this stabbing pain, and he was grunting and choking me with his hand around my throat. I could barely breathe. I think I was starting to black out, because he suddenly stopped and let go, and I barely remember it._

 _Then he spit on me, called me a whore, pulled his pants back up, and left. I heard the tires of his car spin out in the dirt as he sped away. I was in so much pain that I couldn't think straight. I have no idea why I laid there for so long, but I cried harder than I ever have in my life. I don't even know how long I was there. But after a while, I finally got dressed, walked back down into town, and called my mom. She asked what was wrong, because she could tell I was really upset, but I just told her that Jeremy and I had another fight and he ditched me in the warehouse district. When she asked what the hell we were doing there, I simply told her I didn't know. I really didn't. I told her that I demanded Jeremy take me home multiple times, and that he didn't listen to me. She told me to stay put and that she'd be there to pick me up as soon as possible._

 _It was about half an hour before she got there, and as soon as she was pulled up to the curb I was in the passenger seat. She instantly knew there was more to the story than what I had told her, and she started asking lots of questions. I didn't answer though. I was too terrified and ashamed. But she remarked on the bruise on my face, and when she asked how that got there I just shrugged. Then she went on a tirade about how what Jeremy was doing was not okay, that she was sick of me being put through such bullshit, and that she forbid me from seeing him ever again. I honestly don't even care. I don't want to see him ever again. He's such an asshole that I hope he dies slowly and painfully._

 _When we got home, I went straight to the bathroom and turned on the shower. While I was getting undressed, I could feel something cold and slimy between my legs, and when I took off my underwear I could see his seed and blood all over the crotch. That's when I made the realization that he didn't wear a condom. I ended up vomiting at the idea, then hopped in the shower and scrubbed myself cleaner than I have ever been in my life. I scrubbed everything several times, and I turned the water to as hot as I could physically handle it just to wash away the grime and filth. I felt so used and disposed of. Still do. I don't know if this feeling will ever go away._

 _I haven't told anyone yet, and I doubt I ever will. My mother already suspects something bad happened, and Anna is suspicious as well. I have no doubt in my mind that she has already told Kristoff and Rose, but I can only pray that she hasn't._

 _This brings me back to the whole issue with Micah. I so desperately wish he was still my friend and available to talk to. I honestly believe I could tell him, but I'm scared of just the thought of what he would do if he ever did find out. Would he even care anymore? After what he said to me the last time we spoke, he said I deserved Jeremy. I don't know why he would think that, but now I'm starting to wonder if what he said was true. Maybe I really do deserve what I get. I just don't know._

 _I'm going to try calling him in the morning. Maybe he'll actually be home. I certainly hope so. I've spoken with Jenny a couple times, and she says she has no idea why Micah is mad at me. Apparently he hasn't told her anything. That's unlike him. He used to tell his mother everything. Now he's leaving her in the dark._

 _Then there's Amber. She is such a negative influence on him. Throughout the school year I saw her making out with other guys. A few of them were on the football and basketball teams. She must like guys that play sports. I didn't know any of them personally, but I recognized them. I know Kristoff and Rose have seen it too. We all tried to warn Micah, but he called us liars, even though none of us have ever lied to him about anything. When he said that, it stung quite a bit._

 _I really do hope he opens his eyes and sees the person she really is. She's going to tear him down to nothing, and I can't sit by and watch that. He's too important of a person to me to just see him whither like that. God I love him. I'm so hopeless. What am I going to do?_

When she was finished, Elsa glanced over at the clock. 11:37 pm. For a Saturday, it wasn't that late. She was used to staying up that late on the weekends. But she was starting feel a little tired, and that entry wore her out. It reminded her of one of the worst moments in her life. It was almost enough to make her sick to her stomach.

Just as she was about to put her diary back in its drawer in the nightstand, the last entry on the page caught her eye. She saw the date and instantly knew what it was and smiled. It was quite possibly one of the happiest entries in the entire book.

 _January 23rd, 2015_

 _As I sit down to write this, I am in a position that I haven't been in since I first met him. I can't contain the elation that I am feeling inside. It's like this bubble of joy in the center of my belly that is about to burst and send this wondrous sensation to every nerve ending in my body. I have waited so long for this day to come, and now that it's here I can't believe it._

 _After nine long, grueling months, Micah has finally spoken to me. He came to me today and was very timid at first. But so was I. We greeted each other like we were complete strangers, so shy and afraid of what the other was thinking. Then the division in the ground between us seemingly disappeared, and we actually held a conversation. And it wasn't just any conversation. He apologized to me for everything that had happened. I couldn't believe it. When I told him that I finally left Jeremy, I could see the relief wash over him. It was an amazing sight to behold._

 _The best part is when we mended our bridges and became whole again. We're back to being friends again, and now we've made plans to spend time together this weekend. I couldn't be happier. To think that it's almost been an entire year since we last spoke, and now we're going to make time for just us. It's the best feeling in the world._

 _The plan is I'm going to drive over to his place tomorrow and pick him up, then we're going to go catch a movie. We don't even know which one, and we really don't care. It's going to be awesome either way. Then we're going to go get lunch somewhere, and then possibly go to Gamestop and see what the new releases are. It should be a lot of fun. I can hardly wait._

 _There's just one tiny issue that remains. Well, two, actually. One is my feelings for Micah. I haven't stopped loving him, even in spite of our falling out this last year. I missed him so much, and my heart ached the entire time. But luckily that's over with now. But I don't know what to do next. I desperately want to tell him that I love him. Should I? Is it too late? Will he have stopped loving me? I need to find out so I can make the right decision. Maybe I can get Rose and Kristoff to talk to him and find out for me. They're pretty good at doing that sort of thing. Micah has always managed to hide his emotions from me, at least I think he has. I wouldn't really know. I think I might be kind of oblivious. I need to keep a better eye on things from here on out. But I should definitely get the others to look into it for me. Then I can tell him. But the problem is he's with Amber._

 _And that brings me to the second issue. Amber is vile, and I can see the pain she has inflicted on him over the last year. Micah doesn't seem happy at all. When we talked, I could tell that he was relieved, but I could also see the suffering in his eyes. The hurt he laid bare without even realizing it. I could see it, and I wanted to take it all away. But I don't know if getting involved and telling him to leave Amber and be with me is the right thing to do or not. I feel like it might be underhanded and hypocritical of me. I mean, I didn't want him doing that to me when I was with Jeremy, so it wouldn't be right if I did it to him would it?_

 _I'm just going to see how the weekend goes before making any rash decisions. Micah deserves better than that. So tomorrow, we're going to spend the day together and just get back to basics with one another. It'll be like starting over. But this is a good thing. Starting fresh will be exactly what we need. Maybe he'll even come to realize that Amber is this toxic anomaly in his life, and that he needs to cleanse himself of her. Wash her away. I just hope that tomorrow is the beginning of the next stage in our friendship. I couldn't imagine a life without him in it._


	46. Chapter 46 - Reconciliation

**A/N: Well, I don't have much to say this week. The situation is still pretty much the way it was before. After next week, the story is going to probably go on hiatus for a short bit while I relax and try to recover from burn out and writer's block. But don't worry. I have zero intention of abandoning this story.**

 **Speaking of, I do have other stories that I'd like to ask you guys to all check out at some point. I want your opinions on whether or not I should could continue them. The Godstone War saga is the one that got me into fan fiction to begin with, and Incursion is probably my more exciting story. But are currently stuck, but I think I might be able to move forward with them both at some point. But I want to know if people are even remotely interested.**

 **Also, yes, Tides of Darkness will likely get a rewrite. As I've gone back over it, I'm not as happy with it as I once was. I'll have to try and update it with my more modern writing style. I think I could do it.**

 **Then there is also the new story I am working on, which is sort of inspired by Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos and the Warhammer universe. I've briefly mentioned it in a previous chapter, so I won't say anything more here. But I do have stuff I could do.**

 **Anyway, that's all I've got. Please enjoy the chapter.**

 **Chapter 46**

 _Reconciliation_

Monday morning was a little difficult for Harley. The weekend had been incredibly dull, and she was lonely the entire time. She and Rose still weren't speaking, mostly because she was still really hurt by her girlfriend's inability to be affectionate and her fear of coming out to everyone at school. It seemed incredibly unfair as far as Harley was concerned. It was almost like she wasn't even in a relationship at all.

It was just about 7 am when her mother called up the stairs to tell her it was time to leave. Harley had finally picked out her outfit for the day, had her leather boots with the chains that she really liked, added the last bit of eyeliner to her face, and was trudging down the stairs moments later. When she was outside waiting for her mother to get off the phone with her uncle, she looked down the street towards the gate at the entrance to the community. She kept hoping that Rose would come zooming in at the last second like she always did, but Harley knew better. It was her own fault that they weren't speaking. It was more like it was _her_ that wasn't speaking. Rose had called several times and left voicemails and text messages. She had even tried Skype. Harley had gone completely radio silent.

After waiting roughly another ten minutes, her mom finally unlocked the doors and got inside the car. Harley climbed into the backseat like she always did; she wasn't allowed to sit in the front seat. Only her father and mother were. It was something she could never understand, but it had been that way her whole life, so she didn't think to argue. But soon enough, the Lexus was already out on the main road headed into Auburn. On the way, she thought about what would happen that morning at school. She doubted she'd get there in time to have breakfast with the others, and she really didn't know what to expect with Rose being there. It was going to be awkward to be sure, but she still didn't know what the artist was going to say or do.

The drive into town was long and quiet. Her mother had learned that Harley didn't want to talk about her personal life much. At least not with her parents. It was mostly something she stopped doing after she came out to them. When she told the others that it took some time for things to get back to normal with her parents, that wasn't the entire story. If she were to be completely honest with her friends, she would have told them that her parents basically acted like nothing had ever happened. That she wasn't gay. They barely acknowledged her as it was. They knew nothing about her likes and dislikes, her hobbies or interests, the kinds of food she liked... Nothing. They were very hands-off when it came to raising their daughter. But Harley knew the truth behind their facade. She knew that they still hated her and what she was. Who she was. It was the same as the friends she had had growing up. She only ever had a couple, and when she came out in eighth grade, they abandoned her and never spoke to her again. It crushed her.

Then there was Jessica. She had been an eleventh grader at the time, and met Harley in PE. They became fast friends, and after Jessica found out about Harley being gay, she came clean and told the blonde that she was as well. It wasn't long after that they started dating. They never told anyone at school, their parents never knew, and they made sure not to display themselves in public. But behind closed doors, it was different.

Jessica had quickly become the dominant one in their relationship. Since Harley was so new to the whole concept of dating, she let the older girl take the reins and lead the way. And then came her first sexual experience. Jessica made it clear that Harley wasn't her first, and so she knew what to do. So the blonde let her teach her how to please another woman, and it was something Harley had never expected.

Then the strangest thing happened. Less than a week later, Jessica grew distant. She stopped visiting Harley outside of school, and in PE she avoided the blonde altogether. Harley couldn't understand why. Whenever she approached the girl, she would be completely ignored, like she wasn't even there. This hurt her feelings more than she dared let on, and soon after they were no longer speaking. It shattered Harley emotionally. She had given herself up to this girl, only to be tossed aside after they were done. It wasn't fair.

And that was what she was afraid was going to happen with Rose. With how distant and unaffectionate her girlfriend had been the last few months, Harley was desperately trying to figure out where she went wrong. Rose had told her repeatedly that she didn't know how to show affection or be romantic. But Harley didn't know if that was entirely true. There had to be more to it than that. If not, then there had to be a way that she could get the artist to open up and be more expressive with her love.

They pulled up to the school much quicker than Harley had anticipated, and she noticed that she still had roughly twenty minutes to grab breakfast and hang out with her friends before class started. With a muted goodbye, she climbed out of the car and headed inside to the cafeteria. When she got inside, she saw that the others were huddled around the table talking, and as soon as Elsa saw her she waved and smiled. This brightened Harley's mood considerably, and for the time being she forgot about her apprehension involving Rose.

Pulling up a chair, Harley plopped down and smiled at everyone. "Morning guys! It's so weird being here this early. I normally don't get here until the last minute."

"It's good to see you too," Elsa said happily. "How was your weekend?"

This caught her off guard. She wasn't really sure how to answer it. "Oh, well, you know. It was fine I guess. Nothing exciting. Just watching my anime and all that."

"I tried calling you," Rose said, albeit quietly.

"Yeah, I know."

Everyone seemed to catch the hint right away, and made an effort to change the subject. But not before Rose looked really hurt by Harley's reply. It was obvious that their little spat was having a real effect on her.

"So, anyway, the hunt begins," Kristoff announced.

"Oh yeah? You mean the thing with Jeremy?"

"Yeah. Our plan is to start doing our best to mess with him. Really scare him. Make him all paranoid and shit. We're even going to make sure he knows it's us," Micah stated proudly.

"You guys just had better be careful," Anna told them. "I'm all for you kicking his punk ass, but don't be stupid about it and get caught."

"Yeah yeah. We know. We've got it all figured out, so don't worry."

"I still think this is a horrible mistake," Elsa said.

"Don't worry toots, we've got everything covered," Rose assured her. "Besides, Jeremy is too much of a coward to get the cops involved, especially since he knows that we know he's guilty."

Shortly after, the bell for first period rang out. The gang split up and headed off in every direction, and Harley wandered down the hall to her class. Then she heard Rose call out for her, but she kept walking. She still wanted to be angry and upset. But the artist caught up to her and matched her pace.

"Harley, please talk to me," Rose begged. "I'm so sorry about everything. I want to try and make it up to you."

"I don't want to hear it right now," Harley said. "I'm still pissed off, and you are the last person I want to see."

"Come on, give me another chance!"

"No, Rose. I'm not in the mood right now. I have class to get to, and so do you. I'll let you know when I'm ready to talk, _if_ I ever feel like talking."

With that, she left her girlfriend standing there speechless. Harley managed to make it to class with about two minutes to spare, and took her seat at the front of the class. As soon as she sat down, something hit her in the back of the head, startling her. Looking back she saw a balled up piece of paper laying on the floor. Her eyes immediately scanned the room, but saw nobody that could possibly be guilty. As far as she knew, she didn't have any enemies. She was always sweet and polite and happy to everyone. So, without really thinking, she leaned over, picked up the ball of paper, and unfolded it. Then her breath hitched.

 _We know._

What that could mean was pretty apparent, considering what had happened last week. Harley wasn't stupid or naive. She knew. Somebody knew about her. They possibly even knew about her and Rose being together. If she was right on this, that meant Rose was also right. But then she wondered if perhaps the note was meant for someone else. It was possible. There were four other kids sitting behind her, so it was possible that someone's aim was off by a lot. But deep down, she knew that wasn't the case. Yet she was refusing to let herself believe that. There were too many possibilities, too many variables. She couldn't just jump to conclusions like that.

Before she could give it much more thought, class began. It was world history at 7:45 am. Nobody was awake enough to learn about the Aztecs or how the sundial was first created. It was dull material, which didn't interest anybody. Even Harley, as enthusiastic as she normally was, couldn't muster the energy to be her normal peppy self.

Luckily, first period went by without any real trouble. That is, besides Harley nearly falling asleep and getting startled by Mr. Larson. But once class was over, she gathered her things and wandered off to her locker to get her book for the next class. It was on the far side of the school, so it was a decent walk from where she was, but she figured the exercise was good so it didn't bother her any. It even gave her time to think.

As soon as her locker was open she was digging through. The inside was decorated with all sorts of pictures from her favorite shows. She did her best to make it as unique and personal as she could. Kind of like her. The way she dressed wasn't what most of the other kids wore. She wanted to stand out, to make a statement with her clothes. She also didn't care for labels. Punk. Goth. Emo. Nerd. All the social outcasts were categorized one way or another, and Harley despised it. As far as she was concerned, she didn't fit into any label, but at the same time she fit into all of them. She was a little bit of everything. Today, for example, she was wearing a white Hello Kitty tank top with a black leather skirt that went to just above the knees, and had on her favorite black leather boots with the dangling chains on them. Red lipstick and dark blue eyeshadow complimented her facial features, and the black eyeliner brought out the chocolaty brown of her eyes. But it was all done professionally. That was something she prided herself on. Her makeup looked like someone experienced with models did it, even if the colors didn't seem to match. It was just who she was. It was her way of being unique. Of just being herself.

While she was busy stuffing the last book into her backpack so she could speed off to class, three ominous shadows suddenly were looming over her. When she turned to leave, she was startled to see that a girl with dirty blonde hair and two guys were standing there, circling her. She recognized the girl from her first period class, but she didn't know the two boys. They weren't anyone she knew from her other classes.

In her usual style, Harley smiled at them and tried to not look nervous when she greeted them. "Hi. Can I help you guys? I really need to get to class and-"

"We know all about you, dyke," the girl said.

Harley didn't say anything right away. That was then that she knew that the note she got was definitely meant for her. Now that she was being singled out and grouped up on, she was a little worried.

"I-I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure you do, queer," said one of the guys. He was wearing a football letterman, and didn't come across as too friendly.

"Look, guys, I don't know what's going on, but I have to get to class-"

Without warning, Harley was slammed backwards against the lockers. She was completely caught off guard, but the girl that shoved her was inches from her face, and definitely didn't look too pleased. In fact, it sort of scared her.

"We know what you are," the girl said menacingly. "We know who you are, and we know about your little girlfriend too."

"S-so? It's n-none of your business," Harley said, trying her best not to sound scared out of her mind.

The other girl grinned, but it didn't reach her eyes. It was a bit more wicked than that. "Oh, but it is. You see, your kind isn't wanted here. You're sick. A disease, and we don't want you spreading your filth here. Lots of good people come to this school. Why should you be allowed to ruin that?"

"I'm not ruining anything," Harley said meekly.

The girl simply laughed before turning and walking away with the guys in tow. Harley just stood there and looked after them, wondering what the hell was going on. Then she noticed what the time was, and that she was going to be late for her second period class if she didn't hurry. Gathering her things, she ran as fast as she could upstairs to her next class.

The rest of the day went by without incident, although Harley avoided going to the lunchroom, and opted to skip lunch altogether. She didn't much feel like eating. Her stomach was nauseous for the rest of the day, mostly out of anxiety, and when her mother picked her up she didn't even bother saying hello. There were a couple times that her mother tried to get her to speak, but she didn't saying anything. Instead she stared out the window and thought. There was no way anyone could have known, yet these kids had already figured it out. How that happened was a mystery though. There had to be something that she wasn't seeing.

When they got home, Harley crawled her way upstairs to her room, tossed her bag onto her bed, and pulled out her laptop. She didn't have much in the way of homework, so she could get it done after dinner. Right then, she wanted someone to talk to. But it had to be someone that wasn't going to tell Rose everything. Someone neutral. Someone she could trust. So, she hopped onto Skype and prayed that they were online.

 _Shinoa Hiiragi: Hey Anna, do you have a minute?_

 _Feisty Firecrotch: Sure do! What's up?_

 _Shinoa Hiiragi: Well, something happened today at school, but I don't want Rose to find out. At least, not yet._

 _Feisty Firecrotch: No problem. I won't say a word, I promise. Is it serious?_

 _Shinoa Hiiragi: Yeah, it kind of is. Do you remember when Rose was talking about that note she got?_

 _Feisty Firecrotch: Yes I do. Don't tell me you got one too._

 _Shinoa Hiiragi: I sort of did._

 _Feisty Firecrotch: I'm sorry Harley. How bad was it?_

 _Shinoa Hiiragi: The note itself wasn't bad. It's what happened after that has me scared._

 _Feisty Firecrotch: Wait, there's more? What else happened?_

 _Shinoa Hiiragi: I was at my locker between first and second period when these kids approached me. They said they knew about me and Rose, and then the girl slammed me against the lockers and threatened me. She said I'm a disease, and that I'm going to ruin the school._

 _Feisty Firecrotch: Oh my god, Harley! That's horrible! You most certainly are not a disease, and there's no way in hell that you are going to ruin the school. You do know that, right?_

 _Shinoa Hiiragi: I know. But it still hurt, and it scared me a lot. I mean, I really don't know if either of us are safe at school at this point. What if it escalates to something worse? Maybe Rose was right._

 _Feisty Firecrotch: You cannot let those kids win. If you want, I'll kick their asses for you._

 _Shinoa Hiiragi: I don't think that will be necessary, but I totally appreciate the offer. I'll let you know if it gets to that point though!_

 _Feisty Firecrotch: Okay, well, I want you to be safe. The last thing I need is my friend being too scared to be herself at school._

 _Shinoa Hiiragi: Thanks Anna. That means a lot. So, what do you think I should do?_

 _Feisty Firecrotch: Honestly, I think you need to talk to Rose. This fight between you two has gone on long enough. I don't know all the details really, since nobody is telling me, but you two can't be doing this. You need each other, especially right now. I know you guys love each other. You've both told me that much. So please, don't throw away your relationship with each other. Whatever you're fighting over isn't worth it._

 _Shinoa Hiiragi: Part of me wants to make things up with her. The other part wants to be pissed and hurt. I mean, she hasn't been fair to me at all. It's like I don't even matter to her._

 _Feisty Firecrotch: You know full well that isn't true._

 _Shinoa Hiiragi: But it is. Anna, she won't do anything that a normal couple would do. She won't hold my hand, she almost never kisses me, hugging is almost off-limits...I mean, what the hell? What am I supposed to do? I can't keep doing this._

 _Feisty Firecrotch: I think you need to be more patient with her. She's in a very scary place right now. I honestly think she's come to realize just what being bisexual means, and being in a gay relationship isn't helping with that. With all the shit you guys are going to have to put up with, plus the fact that she just doesn't fully understand herself, it's going to take a lot of time for her to really come to terms with herself._

 _Shinoa Hiiragi: So where does that leave us then?_

 _Feisty Firecrotch: That's up to you. Nobody can make that decision for you. But if you want my opinion, it leaves you guys in a position to grow._

 _Shinoa Hiiragi: Do you think I've been too hard on her?_

 _Feisty Firecrotch: Honestly? Yeah, a little bit. I understand what you're going through, but you have to see things from her perspective. She still hasn't completely come to terms with her sexuality. She has a girlfriend, and it's her first relationship ever. Now she's dealing with people at school that are going to make life very hard for the both of you. Just think about that._

 _Shinoa Hiiragi: Oh god. You're right. I've been a bitch to her because I was being selfish. This really isn't about me, is it?_

 _Feisty Firecrotch: It's about both of you. You want a girlfriend that will be a girlfriend, and she needs someone to guide her through all this._

 _Shinoa Hiiragi: Okay. I think I know what needs to be done. I hope it's not too late though._

 _Feisty Firecrotch: I highly doubt that it is. I can see the hurt on Rose's face every time she's around. She's crying out for you. I really think you two need to forgive each other and move forward. Being angry at one another over this is doing you no favors. Also, you have to remember that she hasn't been out nearly as long as you have. You've had time to adjust and come to terms with things. Rose hasn't. You need to help her through this._

 _Shinoa Hiiragi: Yeah, okay. I have a plan now. I've gotta set things right. Thanks Anna. You're awesome!_

 _Feisty Firecrotch: You're more than welcome Harley. Go kiss and make up._

00000

It was almost dusk, and Harley was standing on the curb outside her house wrapped up in her jacket. October was cold and wet, and while it wasn't raining at the moment, the clouds didn't look too happy. The wind had picked up a bit, and it kept blowing her pigtails in her face. Every time she opened her mouth, she'd get a mouthful of hair that whipped up in a sudden gust. She found it to be mildly annoying.

At roughly 6:17 pm the gate at the front of the island slid open, and Rose's car came rumbling down the road. When she pulled up, Harley hopped in before the car even came to a complete stop. As soon as the door was closed, they were headed back to the gate to head to their favorite sushi joint.

They didn't say anything at first. Rose did her best to keep her eyes on the road and not look over at her girlfriend, and Harley stared out the window while she thought of all the things she needed to say. There was so much that she didn't know where to begin. But then she would look over at Rose every now and then, then immediately return her gaze to the scenery outside. If she could be brutally honest, she was scared. She was scared of the whole conversation. She was scared of what those kids said at school. But more than anything, she was scared that maybe too much damage had already been done.

After a bit, Harley noticed that they weren't headed in the direction that would take them to the sushi restaurant like she had thought. Instead, they had arrived at the park in town near the river. Completely confused by this, Harley shot a look at Rose. The artist had a very determined look on her face. Harley just hoped that this was a good sign. She had never known Rose to be so focused unless she was drawing, but that's exactly how she looked.

As soon as they were parked, they were both out and standing in the parking lot looking at one another. Neither said a thing, nor moved an inch. They just stared. Rose had her hands in her jacket pockets, and Harley had her arms wrapped around herself. She was shaking a little from the cold since she was still wearing her skirt.

Eventually, Harley got sick of the staring contest and spoke first. "So, why did you bring us here anyway?"

"I wanted to go for a walk. I thought it'd be good for us," Rose said.

"Well, it's just that it's a little cold and windy. But I'm not complaining at all! I promise."

"Alright, come on blondie."

They slowly made their way into the interior of the park, and found the trail that most people used when they were doing the same thing that the two of them were doing. It wound around the perimeter of the park, and it was close to a mile and a half in length, possibly more. Thankfully, there weren't really many other people there due to the weather and time of day. The park was due to close in just a couple hours.

"How've you been?" Harley asked after a bit.

Rose coughed a little, possibly from the cold. "I've been better."

"Any more nasty notes or anything?"

"No, thank God. But I keep getting this feeling that I'm being followed. It sucks."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Then there was silence again. Harley wasn't sure how far they walked before anything more was said. It felt like quite a ways, but she didn't know for sure. It was at least five or six minutes worth of walking before either of them spoke.

"I'm sorry," Harley suddenly said.

"Yeah, me too," Rose replied.

"I should never have gotten upset like that. It wasn't fair to you. But you have to understand, it hasn't been fair to me either."

"I know. I don't know what's wrong with me."

"Nothing is wrong with you, Rose. You're just scared. You're scared of what's happening, and you're scared of being who you are because of it. But I want you to know that I am right here with you. So are our friends."

Rose sniffled a little, but Harley wasn't sure if it was because of the cold or not. "That's just it though. You can't always be there, and even when you are we still have to face this shit. We're going to end up getting hurt because of this. I just know it. At the very least, embarrassed and humiliated."

"I was threatened today."

This caused Rose to whip her head around. "What!? How!?"

"Well, it started in first period. I got hit with this ball of paper that turned out to be a note like yours. Then I was at my locker and got surrounded by these kids that threatened me. They said some nasty things to me. Honestly, I'm a little scared."

"See? This is exactly what I was talking about!"

"I know babe. Believe me, I know. But we still can't let these people stop us from being us, or from being together. I'm determined to stay by your side no matter what," Harley said. There was a strength to her voice that Rose noticed right away.

"So now what?" Rose asked apprehensively.

"I don't know," Harley admitted. "But we can't let these people win. I just wish I knew who they were. I didn't recognize any of them."

Rose suddenly stopped right where they were, hands still in her coat pockets. She looked a little scared. Then they were looking at each other again.

"I want you to know that I love you," Rose said. "I mean it. You're this amazing person, and you make me feel good when we're together. I'm really sorry about how I've been. But like I've said, I'm scared. I know that's no reason to shut you out like I have been though. It's just that, I'm really scared of a lot of things. I'm scared of coming out, I'm scared of what these kids are going to do to us, and I'm scared of myself. I thought I was going to be okay with being bi. I really did. And at first, I was. But then I met you and everything just went haywire. I suddenly realized what it really meant, and it terrified me. I've never had feelings or thoughts like this before. Please, don't hate me because of it. I'm scared enough as it is that I'm going to lose you."

"Sweetheart, I'm not going anywhere," Harley assured her. "I know that being gay is scary. But there is something I want to tell you."

"Okay."

"Back in ninth grade," Harley began, "I met this girl. Her name was Jessica Porter. She was a couple years older than me, and we became friends. After about a month or so of us hanging out, I learned that she was gay too. When she found out about me, she asked me out. I said yes, and then we dated for a while. It wasn't ever serious. It's not like we went on actual dates or anything. But nobody knew about us, and we made sure to keep it that way.

"Then about six months into our relationship, she had me stay the night at her place. We were up late, and we were just doing typical girl stuff. Then she kissed me, and it sort of went from there. The short version is we ended up having sex. It was my first, and only, experience ever. I had no idea what I was doing, and so I just sort of let her lead the way. I will admit that it was sort of fun. But then everything went to shit.

"The following Monday at school, she wouldn't talk to me. She wouldn't look at me, acknowledge me...nothing. I couldn't understand why. Whenever I approached her, she would either pretend I wasn't there or she would act like we were complete strangers. It hurt a lot. Then I found out why. A couple weeks later, one of her friends approached me and told me that Jessica had used me like she did all her past girlfriends, and that I needed to just get over it and move on. I went home and cried for hours. The one person I thought I could trust betrayed me. I never felt so embarrassed in my life."

For a moment, Rose was silent. It had started to sprinkle a little, just barely wetting the surface of their coats, and the wind picked up some. As the trees were blown about, more of the autumn leaves fell to the ground, covering the earth in oranges and reds.

"Why are you telling me this?" Rose finally asked.

"Because I want you to know what I've been through, and what I'm scared of having happen again. I don't want to lose you, and I don't want to feel used or betrayed. I can't handle that again."

"Harley, I would never do that. You have to know that."

"But that's how I've been feeling for the last few months," Harley said. "That you were just using me because of how cold you've been. It reminded me of her, and it hurt."

"Please tell me that you're not leaving me."

"No, I'm not. But please Rose, come out of your shell and show me that you want me. Show me how much I mean to you. I'm feeling all alone, and I'm sick of living that way. I've been alone for so long. I can't do that again."

Silence. They stared at one another, unblinking. Then without warning, Rose threw her arms around Harley and dragged her into a very tight hug. She held on for quite some time, and she could hear the blonde starting to cry. That's when she forced Harley to look up at her before placing a very powerful kiss on her lips. Then they melted into one another, and the kiss became a bit more passionate. It was something neither had experienced before, and for the first time, neither was scared.

Eventually, they had to break apart, and hand in hand they headed back to the car. They took their time, because they knew that the moment couldn't last forever. On the way back, as they held hands, Rose would rub circles into Harley's with her thumb and occasionally squeeze. It was the first time that she had ever shown affection of any kind in public. She even refused to break her hold on the blonde when other people passed by. It made Harley incredibly happy, because it was exactly what she had always wanted.


	47. Chapter 47 - Sweet Vengeance

**A/N: I want to apologize for not uploading last week. I was bed ridden with a back injury, and couldn't do a god damn thing about it. I've still got some pain, and it's been basically two weeks. It's been frustrating to say the least.**

 **Well, this is it. I think this is what a lot of you guys have been waiting for. Hopefully it'll have been worth it. I had a lot of fun writing it, and I think it works out fairly well.**

 **Updates are probably gonna stop for a bit after this. As I've mentioned several times already, I've got burn out and writer's block. So I'm gonna take a step back for a bit and relax, let the creative juices recover, and see what happens in a month or two.**

 **I've still got other chapters to upload, but I'm going to hold onto them for the time being. I want to make sure they're actually good first, and I want to get back to a point where I can make sure I have a bunch of stuff saved up before uploading. I don't like being one of those writers where I'm scrambling each week to throw something together to upload for you guys. Sure, I admit that not every chapter I've uploaded has been a success or all that great(there are plenty that I wish I could have written better, but I think that's true for all writers), but I always made sure that I wasn't in a hurry or stressing out.**

 **One thing I want to touch on, and it's something that came to my attention with the last chapter. A few people pointed this out to me, and one was in the reviews(a guest, so I couldn't just respond directly to them), but apparently the homophobia that Rose and Harley are dealing with seems a bit...cartoony? I think that was the word. Well, here's my response to that.**

 **I'm 35 years old, so yes, it's been a while since I was in high school. However, the experiences the characters in my story are going through, at least as far as the homophobia thing goes, is accurate in relation to what I personally endured in school back in the mid to late 90's. It's also very similar to what a LOT of other gay kids endured at the time. Now, I don't know what things are like exactly now, but I do know is that people haven't changed all that much. I still hear horror stories from people, and I do have a gay friend that is still in high school and has dealt with similar stuff. But as far as what the homophobic kids said to Rose and Harley? That's actually true-to-life stuff that was said to me and a couple friends back in the day. No exaggeration on my part. At the time, the high school pretended to be a church on the weekends(and I think it still does, but I'm not sure, it's been nearly 20 years) and there were a LOT of religious kids in the area. The worst part was that the high school was actually located in the upper class part of town(well, upper middle class...basically where the people with a lot of money lived at the time), and people like me, who were dirt poor, were already treated differently. So being bisexual AND poor was a serious crime in the eyes of a lot of the kids there. That's just the culture that was bred.**

 **So yes, what was said to Rose and Harley is in fact true-to-life stuff. I know it seems a bit absurd, and I did feel that when I was writing it that people might think that I'm just making shit up to prove a point or push some agenda, but that's not the case. This stuff was really said, and actually happened. It's just my personal experience, with a touch of others that I had heard over the years. And no, my purpose isn't to shove the "gay agenda" down anyone's throats. I'm simply telling a story about what this group of kids has gone through as they grow up.**

 **That brings me to something else. I've actually been asked several times by you guys in PMs whether or not I actually have an ending planned for the story, considering the nature of it and all that. The answer to that is yes. While it's not written in stone, and I still have details to work out, I do in fact have an ending planned. At first, for about the first 15-20 chapters, I was struggling with it. But I have it figured out now, and I think it'll make sense with the way the story is going. It'll play off of the title of the story as well as the description. I don't think it'll be a shock or surprise to anyone either. But I guess we'll see.**

 **Anyway, let's get on with it. Who wants to see Micah and the gang kick some ass?**

 **Chapter 47**

 _Sweet Vengeance_

When that Friday rolled around, everyone was on edge. It had nothing to do with school itself. That rarely was ever an issue anymore. Instead, it was what they had planned for after school. They had been planning it for almost two weeks, and the plan was finally coming to fruition. Elsa wasn't really thrilled with the idea, but everyone else agreed that it had to be done. Jeremy had been a pain in all their asses long enough. It was time to take action.

The plan was pretty simple, though the execution required a certain finesse for it to go smoothly. Once school let out, the gang would meet up at Elsa and Anna's place. It had been decided that in order for the whole thing to be effective, Elsa would unfortunately have to be with them when things went down. This again made her very uncomfortable, and she was against the whole plan. But majority rules, and so she was stuck dealing with the decision.

After they met up, they would split off into two different vehicles. Kristoff, Anna, and Harley would take the truck, and Micah, Elsa, and Rose would take the Explorer. Then they'd head down towards the far end of town near Lakeland Hills, a high income neighborhood in Auburn, and would park right outside of Jeremy's house. If he wasn't home, they'd wait. They knew that Marcus had told him what had happened, as the boys ended up having a second talk with him, and he assured them that the message had been sent. He also agreed that he would set up a get together with Jeremy at roughly 3:30 pm near the lookout above the lake, but only after Micah had threatened to dislocate his knee again if he refused. That seemed to make the boy cooperative almost instantly.

They chose that location because it was secluded and nobody would know that they were there. They also suspected that Marcus would be a complete narc and rat them out, which would mean Jeremy would probably bring more friends. If that was the case, Kristoff was prepared to deal with more than one person at a time while Micah focused on the main target. Jeremy. He had a vendetta to settle that he had been waiting on for ages. Now that he finally had the opportunity, he wasn't about to pass it up.

The reason the girls were there was simple. Kristoff and Micah needed alibis in case the cops got involved. They didn't think Jeremy would have the nerves to go to the police considering he had a restraining order and Elsa still had the voicemail. She was glad she had kept it. So the plan seemed relatively water-tight. There really weren't too many foreseeable problems. The only real issue was the off chance that Jeremy didn't show up.

Then there was the reason Elsa was there. Jeremy needed a strong reminder of what he had done and what he was paying the price for. He needed to be reminded of the year of abuse and torment he inflicted on her, the rape, and the recent assault on her in her own home. There was just so much bad history there, and for him to see her standing over him as he lay bleeding on the ground would send a clear and direct message to him. It would tell him that she was done being the damsel in distress. That she was done with constantly looking over her shoulder and jumping at every shadow. That his life was now in her hands. With her say so, Micah would do as much or as little as she wanted to the bastard. While it wasn't the optimal position for her to be in, she had promised that she would tell him when enough was enough. A part of her really wanted to see Jeremy suffer and pay for all he did. But the other part of her wanted it to just be over and done with so she never had to see him ever again. With the plan set in place, things were looking like they would move swiftly forward.

At 2:15 pm the final bell of the day rang and school let out for the weekend. Elsa was nervous the whole way to the car, and she constantly kept looking behind her to make sure Marcus or one of Jeremy's other cohorts weren't following her. There was this cold feeling in her belly like she was being watched or followed, and she couldn't shake it no matter what. Luckily Micah was the first one to the car, and he looked a little enthusiastic and excited.

As soon as she got to the car, she tossed him the keys and climbed in. He gave her a sort of confused look, but didn't question it. The moment the engine was turned over, he turned to her and had a look of pity on his face.

"You holding up alright, babe?" Micah asked her.

"No, not even close. I just want today to be over with already," Elsa admitted.

"Well, don't worry. Once Jeremy's sorry ass is dealt with, we won't ever have to do this again."

"Unless he retaliates again."

Micah scoffed at the idea. "Please, you and I both know that once we put the fear of God in him, he won't bother you ever again."

On the ride home, Elsa kept running over all the possible scenarios in her head. None of them were pleasant, and some were worse than others. There was the chance that the cops would be called, or that Jeremy and his friends would overpower Micah and Kristoff. She was even slightly afraid that someone was going to die. There was no reason for her to think that way, since she sincerely doubted it would happen, but she couldn't ignore the possibility. With as much bad blood as there was between everyone, and how much of a threat Jeremy had hoped to be to her, Elsa had to keep it in mind at least a little.

The moment they pulled up to the house, Elsa was dragging herself up the steps to the door and inside to her bedroom. It was obvious that she was really nervous. Even Micah could tell right away that she was not doing well at all. So, in an effort to comfort her, he sat her down on the bed and drew her into a hug before kissing the top of her head. It made her smile a little, but did little to calm her nerves. But the effort was at least appreciated.

When the clock struck 2:45 pm, the others had arrived and were preparing themselves. The mood was a little stressed, and everyone was quietly sitting there waiting for it to be time to leave. They needed to be at Jeremy's by 3:20 pm so they could follow him up to the lookout. He didn't know what any of them drove, so they didn't have to worry about being spotted.

"Are you ready to get down to business?" Rose asked Elsa.

"Not in the slightest. I really don't want to do this," Elsa admitted.

"You know you're not going to be alone, right?" Anna said from her perch by the window.

"But you don't understand. This is Jeremy we're dealing with. He isn't afraid to cause trouble no matter what. And what if he manages to get to me?"

"That's not gonna happen," Micah told her. "I won't let it."

"Neither will I," Rose added. "I'm not afraid of the asshole. I'll deck him if he comes anywhere near you."

"Yeah, me too. I have pointy boots. He won't want to come anywhere near me," Anna said proudly.

None of this eased Elsa any. Her stomach was still a bundle of balled up nerves. She could barely sit still. Walking back and forth across the room while wringing her hands, she was trying her best not to lose her mind.

"Okay, let's say that things go down as planned. No cops, no eyewitnesses, nothing. Then what? Do we really expect him to not ever try anything ever again? Are we really sure that that will happen?" Elsa asked desperately.

"I really wouldn't worry," Harley replied. "From what you guys have all said, he's a coward. He only picks on the weak, and he manipulates others to fight for him. If he didn't you wouldn't have been beaten nearly to death by his friend. He would have done it himself. But he didn't. I'm confident that no matter what, once Micah and Kristoff manage to really hurt the guy, he'll get the hint and never try anything ever again."

"Yeah Els, don't worry. We've got this. All you have to do is deliver the message," Kristoff told her. "Let us handle the dirty work. You just hang back and stay safe. From what I've seen of his other friends, they're not much of a threat. They're all kind of small, and the one guy that does fight has already had his ass kicked by Micah. So really, you've got nothing to worry about."

The time to set the plan into motion soon came upon them, and they crammed themselves into their cars before taking off. Elsa sat in the passenger seat as Micah drove, and she could hear Rose talking to Anna on her phone. They were the designated coordinators. It was their job to make sure everyone was on the same page as things went forward.

It only took them about ten minutes to reach Jeremy's house, and they parked themselves just a little bit down the road to avoid being seen. His car was still sitting in the driveway, but he was outside talking on his phone. Whoever it was he was talking to, he was on the phone with them for quite a while. When it was just about 3:30 pm, he climbed into his car and pulled out of the driveway in a hurry before speeding off. Micah and Kristoff had to hit the gas pretty hard to keep up with him, and Elsa wondered if they had been spotted.

They made sure to keep their distance so they didn't draw any unwanted attention in case Jeremy decided to run for it. He was driving a little too fast and was cutting people off at every opportunity. From what Elsa could tell, nothing had changed. He was still the arrogant prick she had known throughout their relationship. It soured her stomach just thinking that she had put up with him for nearly a year. But then she thought that if she hadn't, then she and Micah wouldn't have ended up together. So in a way, dating Jeremy was a good thing. But only in the most twisted of ways.

They eventually found themselves in the warehouse district after following him through practically every part of Auburn. Whatever he was doing, he was trying his best to do it unnoticed. It was still possible that he knew they were following him, but if he did know, then it was stupid of him to go to the one place they wanted him anyway. At the end of the long road that cut straight down the middle of the district he turned right. That was exactly what they wanted. That would lead straight up to the lookout.

The road up was mostly gravel and dirt, with dips and bumps the entire way up from years of use. Elsa had learned at one point it used to be off-limits as it was private land, but the city ended up buying it and opening it as part of the park below that surrounded the lake. At the bottom of the winding road was a fork that led to another part of the park, but it was only for park staff and was chained off. It wasn't unheard of for high school and college kids to sneak in on the weekends and throw parties though. That section was secluded enough, and there were plenty of signs posted that stated it was purely off-limits. Elsa thought that they should have put up a gate rather than a couple chains across the entrance. That would have made far more sense.

Once they crested the hill at the top, they could see a few cars at the far end of the plateau, including Jeremy's. There was a circle of people huddled together, maybe five or six people, and he was definitely there with them. The gang stopped just a few yards in from the entrance before parking and climbing out. As they regrouped, they made sure that Elsa was somewhere near the back for safety. Looking around at her friends, she could see each one was rather determined to finish this. Rose had her sleeves rolled up and her hands balled into fists, and Anna followed suit. Harley was hanging back with her, and the two boys took charge and stood at the head of the group.

As soon as they approached Jeremy and his friends, Elsa noticed one thing. They were prepared. This meant that Marcus told them about everything. A couple of the guys had baseball bats, and it looked like one had a tire iron. The most notable thing was that Jeremy immediately was slinking back behind the others. Cowering didn't seem to surprise her in the least. While she had never known him to really back down to anyone, he had rarely ever been threatened that she knew of. After that incident with Kristoff at the mall a couple months back, she was pretty sure that he was a little spooked.

"Jeremy, get your punk ass out here!" Micah shouted, fists clenched and ready to hit something.

"I have nothing to say to you!" Jeremy responded from behind one of his friends.

"Yeah, well I didn't want to talk! I want to finish this! Now get your ass over here and just take what's comin' to you!"

"You think I'm stupid, don't you. You think I'm just going to run out there and fight? I have a better idea!"

"Get ready, this is gonna get ugly," Micah said to Kristoff quietly.

"Yeah, I know. I'm still bigger than all of them. Funny how Marcus isn't here, isn't it?" Kristoff replied.

Moments later, Jeremy shoved a couple of his friends forward, which just happened to be the ones with the baseball bats. They were ready to go, but approached slowly. It was obvious that even with weapons they were afraid of Micah and Kristoff. It was true that the two of them were bigger than any of Jeremy's friends, and doubly true for Jeremy himself, which made it rather satisfying for them to know that his gang was going to be extra cautious.

Then suddenly one of them ran towards the guys with his bat raised, and as soon as he reached Micah he swung his bat down as hard as possible. Micah managed to dodge to the side and deliver a quick punch to the gut, knocking the wind out of the guy. Then he swung a hard left and hit him in the side of the head, knocking him over. The other guy with the bat saw what happened and stopped where he was. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't ready for Kristoff to rush right at him and bash him with his shoulder, knocking the bat from his hand and sending him backwards several feet onto his back. The moment the guy was on the ground, Kristoff sent a swift kick straight to his face, knocking the guy out.

"Is that seriously all you've got, you little bitch?" Kristoff said with mocking laugh. "Do you really want to send your friends into this, knowing full well that we'll have no problem with them? How about instead of having other people do your dirty work, you fight like a man. Unless beating defenseless women is all your capable of. Then maybe I should send our friend Rose after you. I know she's dying to get her hands around your throat. If I were you, I'd be scared to death of her too."

Without warning, the remaining five of Jeremy's still conscious friends ran at them. It was obvious right away who they thought was the bigger threat, and once again Kristoff just laughed. Considering his size, he had no qualms with fighting three at once. That is, until Rose stepped forward next to him and tackled one of them.

As soon as they were on the ground, Rose was throwing punches left and right, not giving the guy a chance to fight back. He tried clawing hat her face and pulling her hair, which only served to piss her off even further. Then in a single motion she was flipped over onto her back and the guy was above her with his fist raised and ready to strike. But then out of nowhere a boot came crashing into his face, stunning him just enough so Rose could throw him off of her. The moment he hit the ground again Rose was on top of him, hitting him in the face as much as she could. Eventually the guy gave up and seemingly fell unconscious. But just for good measure, Rose raised a knee and sent it hard into his groin, earning her a yelp and a groan of pain. Then she looked to see who it was that had helped her and saw Anna standing only a couple feet away with a scowl on her face.

Kristoff and Micah seemed to be fairing well enough. Micah had been knocked to the ground by the two that attacked him, but one was bleeding from the mouth and nose and didn't seem too keen in fighting anymore. The other was still on top of him and was trying to choke him. However, Micah managed to grab the guy's leg and reverse the hold he had on him. It sent the boy tumbling over, and as soon as he was thrown off Micah brought the heel of his foot down hard on his face, earning an audible cracking sound. Then the guy was screaming out and holding his face. His friend ran to help him and dragged him back out of the way as Micah climbed to his feet.

Kristoff had made fast work of the two that had come after him. They were both laid out in serious pain, and his attention was focused on the only one standing. Jeremy. Then they regrouped, and Micah stepped forward.

"Okay you sorry son of a bitch, it's just you and me now," Micah said with a sense of finality.

"And what makes you think I'm going to fight you?" Jeremy asked, clearly a little scared.

"Because you've got nowhere to go. We have you blocked in, and I can guarantee you that I'm faster than you are. And here's the best part. We know all about what you did. I know about every time you hit or beat Elsa, every time you forced her into having sex with you, all the times you demeaned and belittled her, and definitely about the time you raped her. We also know about you hiring your buddy Marcus to beat her so severely that she was sent to the hospital. That was a big mistake. I'm going to make you pay for each and every one. You're gonna know what it feels like to be the woman in an abusive relationship."

There was a stare down for a few seconds before Jeremy made a break for his car, but Micah caught up to him at a dead run and slammed him into the back of his Mustang. Then grabbing him by the collar of his shirt, Micah yanked on him and sent him backwards into the dirt. Quickly, Jeremy tried to crawl away, but Micah was able to grab him by the leg and drag him backwards before stomping on his back and leaning on him with with all his weight.

"You aren't gonna get away that easily, shit head. I already told you that. So just suck it up and fight like a man. You _are_ a man, right? I mean, besides the whole hitting innocent women thing," Micah taunted.

Jeremy didn't say a word. He was grunting and trying his best to get away, but it was no use. The rest of his friends were either still on the ground groaning in pain, or dragging the others back to the cars and watching what was going down.

Suddenly, Micah leaned down and grabbed Jeremy by the hair and forced him to his feet hard. As soon as he was up Jeremy tried to run again, but this time Kristoff caught him, picked him up underneath the arms, and tossed him back towards Micah. He was stunned for several seconds as he tried to climb back to his feet and dust himself off. It had become abundantly clear to him that he wasn't going to get away.

"Are you finished running? Are you going to actually do this? Because it just won't feel as good to beat you to death with you trying to escape like a bitch," Micah asked.

"Screw you! You are going to regret messing with me!" Jeremy shouted.

"Well, considering we just wiped the floor with your friends, and have you scared out of your mind, I highly doubt that's going to be an issue," Kristoff reminded him.

"These are the brutes you chose over me, Elsa? You chose these middle-class punks over me!?"

This angered Elsa more than anything. She hated it when he insulted her friends. He had always thought of himself as better just because his dad made lots of money. It honestly disgusted her.

"Clearly she did, you little prick," Rose said angrily. "Hurry up and kick his ass Micah before I do."

"Well, you heard the lady," Micah taunted, then took a step forward.

At the same time, Jeremy took a step back, but then remembered that he had nowhere to go. Micah stood nearly six feet tall, and Kristoff even taller. Jeremy was a good three or four inches shorter, so Micah towered over him. It helped that Micah was in relatively decent shape from gym class, because he was easily built bigger than Jeremy as well.

Seconds ticked by, then suddenly out of nowhere Jeremy ran at Micah and punched him right in the face, sending him backwards a few steps. Micah growled and swung right, connecting with Jeremy's cheek. This caused Jeremy to stumble backwards while clutching at his face. Then in retaliation he got back to his feet and tried to kick Micah in the groin. Catching his leg after stepping to the side, Micah came down hard with an elbow right at the knee, earning a cry of pain before sending Jeremy backwards. That's when Jeremy found himself on his back, and Micah was on top of him, sending punch after punch into the sides of his head. Every time Jeremy shifted his head to try and avoid getting hit, he'd end up getting socked in the eye or hit in the nose or mouth instead. It wasn't long before he was bleeding pretty heavily.

After nearly a minute of just assaulting his face, Micah got up and dragged Jeremy back to his feet once more, but the boy had a hard time standing up. That's when Micah grabbed him by the throat and started to squeeze as hard as he could with both hands.

"If you _ever_ come near Elsa again, or send one of your punk friends to hurt her, I will end you!" Micah growled angrily before letting go. Then he tossed Jeremy to the ground, and listened as he coughed and tried to breathe in.

Even after everything that had just happened to him, Jeremy was as arrogant as ever. He looked up at Micah from his spot on the ground and flipped him off, then was rewarded with a strong kick to the side.

"That was incredibly smart of you," Micah said sarcastically before turning his attention back to the others.

That was when Jeremy reached into his pocket and pulled something out. It was a pocket knife, and the moment he had it flipped open he lunged for Micah and drove the blade straight down into the top of his foot. Micah screamed out in pain, but before Jeremy could do much more Kristoff got a hold of him and put him into a headlock.

"Micah!" Elsa screamed as she ran forward to him. There was blood coming out of the top of his shoe, and he had his teeth clenched tight as he was breathing heavy and trying his best to pull the knife free.

"Damn it!" Micah grunted before shooing Elsa away. "I've got this. Go deal with him."

Elsa stood back up and stomped right over to where Jeremy and Kristoff were. Jeremy was squirming, doing his best to get away but failing miserably. Kristoff just had too tight of a hold on him. But Elsa was pissed, fuming even, and she had had enough of Jeremy's bullshit.

"You son of a bitch," Elsa said venomously. "First you abuse and torment me, rape me, then have me beaten by one of your friends because you're too much of a chickenshit to do it yourself, and then you have the balls to stab _my boyfriend_ in the foot because you lost a fight. You are without a doubt the most despicable person I have ever had the displeasure of meeting. I have tried so hard to forget about you. But you just can't let it go, can you? You have to be the one with the final word in. Well guess what. I am done being your victim. I have friends that actually love me and are willing to stand up for me. I am happier than I have ever been. And you know what? I never once loved you. I lied because I didn't want to hurt your feelings, but then I found out you didn't have any, so it was pointless. I was afraid of you then. Not anymore. You will no longer threaten me, terrify me, torment me, or hurt me, because if you do you will have to answer to them. I doubt your friends will ever try and pull what they did today again. Just look at them. They're broken and bleeding just like you. So you know what the repercussions are if you mess with me ever again. Oh, and one last thing..."

Without warning, Elsa pulled pack and swung as hard as she could straight into Jeremy's face, hitting him right in the nose. There was a satisfying crack, and he started screaming as more blood started oozing from his now crooked nose.

"You bitch! You broke my nose!" Jeremy screamed at her.

"Good! It's the least you deserve after everything you've done!" Elsa shouted back.

With that, Kristoff tossed him to the ground before sending a hard kick to side of his head, knocking him unconscious. The others helped Micah walk back to the car before they took off, leaving Jeremy and his broken crew behind.

On the way back into town, Elsa actually had a grin on her face as she drove. The whole thing was far more satisfying than she would have thought. She found it funny that at first she was deathly afraid of what would happen, but the moment that Micah was stabbed, all of that fear went right out the window. It turned into something far stronger. Rage. She was pissed, and breaking Jeremy's nose was the most satisfying thing she had ever done in her life. It was obvious she was proud of herself, and in spite of the fact that his foot was in searing pain, Micah was grinning at her.

"I didn't know you had it in you Els," Micah said in awe.

"Yeah blondie, I didn't either," Rose said.

Elsa simply shrugged. "Neither did I. But it was worth it, even if my hand hurts a little now. I put all my strength into that hit. I knew it wouldn't take a whole lot of force to break the cartilage, but I didn't think that I had what it took to do it."

"So, do you think he learned his lesson?"

"Now that he knows we're not scared of him, and that even I'm willing to fight, I'm pretty sure we'll never hear from him again. Besides, if we do, we deal with it."

"Well, I'm happy for you Els," Micah said, "but do you think you can drive a little faster and get us home? My foot is killing me."

00000

Later that night, after Elsa had to clean and stitch up Micah's foot to the best of her ability – mostly because he still couldn't really handle blood, even though he was better about it than he used to be – they were laying in bed watching a movie. Elsa wasn't even sure what movie, she just knew it was some thriller. It was at least decent. But as she cuddled with Micah, she would look down at his bandaged foot every now and then and frown. She really wished Jeremy had fought fair. Then she would remind herself of who she was dealing with, and would just get angry again.

At about midnight, Elsa turned off the TV and lamp before snuggling in as close as she could to Micah, who held her tight. She was content with where she was in life. Her ex had finally been sent a message loud and clear not to mess with her ever again, she had some of the most loving and caring friends one could ever ask for, and she had the world's greatest boyfriend. She even considered her mother to be a positive in her life, even if that was something that was strained a little. But she was getting there. After she had that talk with Anna, Elsa had decided it was time to start mending that bridge as well. So she made plans to take her mother and sister out for dinner that weekend, just the three of them. Micah would end up going home to spend some time with his mother, and they were also planning on doing something with both families again. They just didn't know what. Thanksgiving was right around the corner, so there was still that to look forward to. But they wanted something more than just a holiday to bring them all together.

"Micah, you still awake?" Elsa asked after a bit, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, what's up?" Micah asked.

"Do you think we did the right thing?"

"What, with Jeremy?"

"Yeah. Like, did we make enough of an impact on him to learn his lesson?"

"I certainly hope so," Micah said. "I really don't want to ever see him again. I don't know what would happen if I do."

"I really hope we don't ever have to deal with him again."

Then they fell quiet for a bit. The only noise that could be heard was the box fan that sat in the corner of the room. It had a calming affect, and Elsa had started leaving it on since the summer because it seemed to make her nightmares less intrusive than they used to be. After she had started sleeping with Micah, her nightmares almost never came, at least until she had her breakdown. Now they came more often, but ever since she started leaving the fan on, they seemed to be less frequent. Whether or not it was just a coincidence she couldn't say.

"Hey, Micah?" Elsa asked again.

"Yeah?" Micah asked back.

"Thank you."

"For what? I didn't do anything."

"Yes you did. You fought for me. You protected me, just like you always have. You did what you could to make me feel safe again. If it wasn't for you, I'd be terrified of my own shadow."

"Well, you're more than welcome Els. But I really didn't do anything special. Besides, I wasn't there for you when you really needed me most. I would have done something back then if I had known."

"Sweetheart, that's in the past. There's nothing that can be done about it now. Just know that I am incredibly grateful for what you did today," Elsa said happily. "I know I was scared at first, but as soon as he hurt you like he did, something happened. I don't know what, but I felt angry and vengeful. But the most important thing was I was no longer afraid. He didn't scare me anymore. Now I know I can fight back."

"I'm proud of you, baby," Micah admitted. "You have no idea how relieved I am to hear you say that. I honestly thought we'd never see you reach this point. Not because you're weak, mind you. But because you're too innocent of a person."

This made her happier than anything he had said in some time. "I love you so much, Micah. I can't wait until we're married and have a family."

"I love you too. Now why don't we get some sleep?"


End file.
